UK injection moulder takes first step in central Europe.

Hi-Technology Group has made its first move outside the UK with a new injection moulding plant in Kosice, Slovakia.

The company’s new subsidiary, Hi-Technology Mouldings Slovakia, has taken a long term lease of 2,000 sq metres of manufacturing premises in a multifunctional complex being developed by IPR Kosice.

Group operations director Richard Brown said Hi-Tech will, initially, employ 25 people on one shift and will increase this to a two shift operation “very quickly”. He said the Slovakian plant will complement its existing UK factory, based in Waterlooville, and will strengthen the relationship with existing and future customers working within Europe.

He told PRW that customers had asked Hi-Tech to have a presence in central Europe. The company aims to supply mouldings to a variety of markets, and its first work will be for a customer in the marine sector. This will be followed by new business Hi-Tech has won in the medical moulding sector.

Future expansion of the factory could see the creation of 150 new jobs in Kosice, the company said.

Opening of the plant will be marked tomorrow by an event which will be attended by officials from the Kosice self-governing region and representatives from Real Estate Bratislava, IQ Servis, and the Economic Development Center of US Steel Kosice.

The company said there was a long process to find the best location in Europe. The presence of the Technical University of Kosice, which has a polymer department, contributed to its decision, along with technical support from other organisations.