A car parts company based in Shropshire and Mid Wales which has secured a £12 million contract with Vauxhall Motors will be expanding to Wrexham.

Vehicle parts producer Cobra UK, based in Welshpool and Whitchurch, won the lucrative deal safeguarding jobs at both sites.

Bosses have now said it is opening a 80,000sq ft unit on Wrexham Industrial estate early in the New Year.

The Vauxhall order means the company will double its current workforce of 49 and bosses at the company are now recruiting for the Wrexham plant.

The company’s expansion is being backed by a substantial contribution from the Welsh Assembly’s Repayable Business Finance (RBF) scheme.

Managing director Gary Seale said: “Our expansion simply would not have happened without the support and funding we have received which enabled us to test and validate new designs and products as well as equip for Vauxhall’s high demand.

“It enabled us to expand our product range and grow the business which includes plans to create up to 50 new jobs.”

Mr Seale said the move offered new employment opportunities and also secured the jobs of current staff.

“There will be some movement of jobs but current staff will be given the opportunity to grow with Cobra UK,” he said.

Mr Seale said he was hoping to secure additional funding from the Welsh Economic Growth Fund to help create further jobs in the new year.

Earlier this year Cobra, based on Welshpool’s Buttington Cross Enterprise Park, won the Queen’s Award for Industry in the International Trade category.

Montgomeryshire MP Glyn Davies welcomed the news, saying: “Cobra UK is a very important business in Welshpool.

“I visited the company last year when it won the Queen’s Award for Industry.

“The news of 49 new jobs is particularly welcome at a time when the entire European economy is going through such a difficult time,” he said.

By Anwen Evans