48 jobs at engineer after defence winsÂ

MTL Advanced, which employs 300 in Brinsworth, has launched a major recruitment drive and expansion plans after winning '˜multiple contracts'.

The firm claims to be Europe's largest contract manufacturer of armoured steel with projects ranging from turrets and blast floors to fully fabricated, painted and assembled hulls.

The apprentices start this month with 28 permanent staff needed to support future growth.

General manager, Karl Stewart said: 'MTL Advanced is continuing to demonstrate year-on-year our ability to adapt to the ever-increasing demands of our client base, by investing in people and new equipment which allows us to maintain our position in the market place. This is thanks to the hard work and commitment of all the team.

'As a company we are increasing our focus on the development of the next generation of skilled personnel. We have been running a comprehensive apprenticeship scheme for some time now and are proud of our relationship with the local schools and colleges. This year we will be taking on our largest number of apprentices to date and we plan to continue this initiative into the foreseeable future'

In September last year MTL said it had won an order to make steel hulls with one of the largest defence manufacturers in Europe.

The firm hired 30 last year after winning an order with Crossrail and in March this year it installed a top-of-the-range laser cutter as part of an £8.5m spend on machinery in 18 months.

MTL's head of sales, Michael Ellmore said: 'Whilst apprenticeships remain a central part of our growth plans, we are also preparing to launch a campaign which aims at recruiting ex-armed force veterans.

'As a veteran myself, I'm keen to boost the number of applications we get from this pool of highly skilled labour and add their skillset to help improve our business and fill the current jobs.