BICESTER, England - Hardide Coatings, provider of advanced surface coating technology, has announced investment in a new Virginia manufacturing plant worth approximately $7 million. The investment will see Hardide Coatings expand provision of its range of specialist nanostructured coatings throughout North America.

The company has signed a lease on a 26,000-square-foot facility in Martinsville, Henry County, which will service existing and new customers in the oil and gas, aerospace, flow control, and advanced engineering markets. The facility is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2015 and to create up to 29 jobs in the first three years. The investment follows Hardide’s recent increase in capacity at its UK facility in Bicester.

The new facility is located within an Enterprise Zone in a state where more than 230 aerospace companies, the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing and two Rolls-Royce facilities are based. It will house new and bespoke chemical vapour deposition (CVD) coating reactors as well as the latest pre-treatment, inspection, quality assurance and finishing equipment.

Philip Kirkham, CEO of Hardide plc said, “Demand from customers in North America is developing well, and a local production facility will significantly boost the business available to us. It will provide a strong platform for developing further business as well as the diversification of our customer base.

“Martinsville, Virginia was chosen after a long and detailed evaluation of numerous locations in different states. We chose Virginia as it offers a positive business environment with a central location for the existing and projected customer base and it makes a compelling economic and business case.”