A LONG-established engineering company in Poole has landed contracts worth £2million.

Walker AEC (Poole) Ltd is one of the oldest companies based on the Dawkins Road Industrial Estate in Hamworthy, Poole, where it has been based since the late 1970s.

The company, which specialises in supplying the aerospace industry, saw its order books boosted last month by more than £2million worth of new business due for delivery this year and throughout 2017.

Chief executive Martyn Walker said: “The orders are for a variety of parts such as main and nose landing gear, leg sub-assemblies and side stay assemblies for business jets.”

Of the £4m turnover the company expects to generate in the coming year, more than 80 per cent is expected to come from the export market.

The company has focused its resources on supplying the aerospace sector with landing gear, actuation and hydraulic assemble, sub-assemblies and component parts.

Mr Walker said: “The type of work undertaken is extremely challenging and quality has to be at the forefront of everything that happens on a daily basis, as people’s lives rely on the product integrity of every single part that leaves Walker AEC.”

Mr Walker added: “Having invested just under £300,000 on a new horizontal machining centre in February and spent considerable money on reorganising its facility, this recent shot in the arm of new orders helps to justify the biggest single purchase that the company has ever made and certainly helps Walker AEC stay well ahead of its competitors throughout the world.

“On top of this, the company now has a need to increase its highly skilled workforce to help cope with the extra workload which it believes could grow higher.”

The company started in 1974 as Walker Engineering, becoming Walker AEC in 1994 after merging with Aircraft Engineering Components of Byfleet in Woking.

It employs some 70 people and its products are used on a range of commercial and military aircraft.

It says it has built its reputation on the machining of highly complex components where there is no room for non-conformity. It makes components in a range of materials from aluminium alloy to titanium.