Ichor Systems is looking to take on more staff as moves into new markets..

John Spence, who took over at the helm of the business late last year, said the planned diversification should further boost turnover at the business which is currently up 15 per cent on last year.

He said that as well as semiconductor equipment manufacture and refurbishment, the company will rolling out engineering solutions to a much wider range of sectors and targeting, in effect, the entire range of UK and European manufacturing.

Spence said that this additional revenue streams which will iron out some of the cyclic nature of dealing solely in the semiconductor market.

He said that the semiconductor sector in Scotland had been gutted and it was harder to find people with the skills and motivation needed.

Spence was one of four founders of Semi Scenic, a semiconductor specialist which Ichor acquired in 2012. A former apprentice with Glasgow optical engineering firm Barr & Stroud, he also worked for National Semiconductor and equipment manufacturer Lam Research, a major partner of Ichor.