AN ambitious lab company in Bolton is celebrating its silver anniversary by announcing plans to expand.

Farnworth-based Clean Air Ltd, which specialises in fume cupboards, has recruited two new members of staff to its 24-strong team.

And bosses are now on looking to fill two additional posts as they gear up for their second quarter-century.

Will Perrott, the firm's managing director, said: "Our fume cupboards have been installed in universities, schools, science parks and commercial laboratories across the UK and Europe.

"A fume cupboard is a device that extracts toxic fumes, vapours and dust, providing protection for laboratory personnel, students and teachers.

"Ours feature advanced technology and we have the capability to design them to suit any application. You’ll find them in some of the most prestigious projects in the country.

"We've supplied the National Graphene Institute, the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre and the Henry Royce Institute to name a few.

"They're even in top secret projects I can’t tell you about."

Work was completed on their Mill Street base in 2014 and managements says that their order book is currently ticking over.

Thirty-eight of their fume cupboards have been installed at the University of Manchester's Graphene Engineering and Innovation Centre - 26 bench-mounted facilities, two walk-in versions and 10 extra-large models.

Another nine research-grade cupboards have recently been ordered for the £60million centre and should be fitted before the end of next month.

Another 21 walk-in fume cupboards are also in service for a leading nano-technology specialist in North Cheshire.

Runcorn-based Nanoco Technologies wanted models for different floors of their HQ so the team at Clean Air had to devise a cradle to transport their handiwork to the required locations.

Each one was also fitted with precision weigh scales, as Nanoco leads the world in the development and large-scale manufacture of cadmium-free nanomaterials.