A HI-TECH engineering firm which has doubled in size in the last five years is on track for another period of rapid growth, bosses have predicted.

Latest figures show pre-tax profits at Oxford Instruments have risen by 76 per cent to £18.7m for the six months to September 30.

Chief executive Jonathan Flint said: “Despite clouds on the horizon, our strong pipeline of new products should help us to remain resilient even in a global economic downturn.

“This is largely because of our geographical diversity across the world, selling about the same in Asia, America, and Europe.”

The company employs 250 staff at Tubney Woods, near Abingdon, and 1,900 worldwide.

Mr Flint said he would be looking to employ more highly-trained graduates in the coming year.

As chief executive Mr Flint publicly sets out targets for the company to reach.

He told the Oxford Mail: “Investors like targets. In 2006 we announced that we planned to double the size of the company by 2011. And we achieved that objective.

“Now we are seven months into our ‘14 cubed growth plan’ under which we shall achieve 14 per cent growth each year in revenue and margins until 2014. Now progress is in line to reach those objectives.”

In 2005, when Mr Flint was appointed, Oxford Instruments made a loss of £900,000 and was forced to make hundreds of redundancies, closing its Eynsham plant in the process.

Instead of concentrating on making MRI scanners for hospitals, it moved into new areas including specialised products for the nanotechnology and biotech markets.

In the six months to September 30 it increased its research and development spending by 42 per cent to £10.5m.

China is now its fastest growing market, with orders up 53 per cent.