A VALVE to regulate the flow of gas and liquid has attracted £750,000 investment for the Oxford-based engineering firm which developed it.

Oxford Flow’s component is 80 per cent lighter than existing products and can handle more than 10 times the volume.

The cash, from investment company Oxford Sciences Innovation, will be used to take the valve to market and develop products for the gas and water industries.

Osney-Mead based Oxford Flow is a spin-out from Oxford University’s Department of Engineering Science.

Founder and technical director Prof Tom Povey, pictured right, identified the need for the valve while researching jet engines.

He said: “I was working with high-flow rates of compressed gas that, for reasons of efficiency and safety, needed to be regulated.

“Regulators available on the market were not precise enough, so I devised a completely new method of controlling gas.”

Oxford Sciences Innovation, a commercial partner of Oxford University, has raised £320m from backers such as Carphone Warehouse founder Charles Dunstone and Google.

Oxford Flow chief executive Simon Hombersley said: “We expect these valves to be a game-changer in the £2bn pressure regulator market, and a platform for a series of industrial control products.

“It’s a good sign that such a big fund is investing in real, industrial engineering.”

Oxford Flow, the latest in a long line of university spin-outs supported by Isis Innovations, has just three staff but is recruiting and expects to employ up to 30 people by 2020.

Prof Povey is also known for inventing a heat-efficient saucepan, stocked by major retailers including Lakeland.