Gloucestershire manufacturer Prima Dental is investing £3million in additional production space at its UK base in Quedgeley as part of its planned expansion programme.

The leading manufacturer of precision dental instruments is building a 21,000sqft building close to its existing base at Waterwells Business Park in Quedgeley.

The new facility will create 40 new jobs at Prima over the next three years, seeing total staff numbers rise from 210 to 250.

The company is starting a recruitment drive to fill a range of roles including production engineers, machine operators and technicians.

Group managing director Richard Muller said: "We are operating at full capacity across our existing plant at Waterwells so this additional site will increase the size of our plant by nearly 60 per cent.

"This investment will see us expanding our workforce and it will create 40 new jobs over the next three years.

"We are starting the recruitment process to fill these new roles and we are seeking new staff to join us as soon as possible."

As well as increasing manufacturing capacity, the new building will accommodate Prima's new research and innovation centre, set up to spearhead product development and advanced dental engineering.

The centre will include R&D space, product-testing areas, product show rooms and education facilities.

Mr Muller said: "The launch of our new research and innovation centre is an exciting development for us.

"The dental sector is continuously evolving, driven by digital technologies, changing manufacturing methods and raw materials.

"There is increased demand for more complex product and our investment in this new facility will help us remain at the forefront of dental engineering."

Prima Dental is the world's fastest-growing carbide bur (dental drill) manufacturer, exporting 30 million units per year to 90 countries.

Over the past three years the company has launched a sales and distribution channel in India and created a joint venture company in Brazil, becoming the first manufacturer of dental burs in South America.

Mr Muller Richard said: "2016 was a record year for us in terms of production and sales and we're very encouraged by two major contract wins in the USA and Japan at the beginning of this year.

"The outlook looks very strong and our new production facility will help us achieve significant planned growth in our new and developing markets."

The new building should be fully fitted out and operational by late autumn this year.

Picture: An artist's impression of the new Prima Dental building