A FAMILY run restorative dental laboratory plans to triple its turnover and create at least nine new jobs after moving to new premises with the support of Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking.

Ambridge Ceramics, based in Ripon, creates on average 10,000 permanent dental fixtures each year, and responding to an increase in demand decided to move from Phoenix Business Centre to Premier House, College Road, to gain more space.

The building is almost three times larger than the previous premises and has enabled owner Mark Ambridge to hire more staff to deal with its expected growth.

He now plans to create five new jobs over the next two months and an additional four over the coming six months to up his capacity further, taking his employee count to 29.

The award winning company, established in 1986, turned over £1.1 million last year and plans to triple this figure over the next 36 months through increases in new contracts, utilising new marketing channels, and taking part in selective mergers.

The new premises have also enabled Mr Ambridge to start up a new business called ArKive Dental, a hi-tech company which scans the plaster models of orthodontic patients’ teeth and turns them into an interactive 3D digital image, enabling the orthodontist to study a patient’s progress on a computer rather than a plaster cast.

As Mr Ambridge was creating jobs as part of the premises purchase, he received £75,000 from the Regional Growth Fund, a Government-backed scheme that supports private sector projects that will create economic growth.

Mr Ambridge said: "The investment in new premises will enable us to manufacture more dental fixtures per year, giving us the capacity to meet customer demand, secure new contracts, provide new products and secure mergers."