Fine tuning of the expansion drive for Osbaldwick-based BSC Filters has begun - and suddenly the company is buzzing as it latches on to high frequency exports.

In only three years staff numbers at the firm, which makes revolutionary microwave filters for the telecommunications and military industries, have quadrupled to 32. Now, as fresh European, Scandinavian and US orders roll in, payroll numbers are expected to nearly double to 60 over the next 22 months.

It is a growth spurt for which the foundations were laid, slowly and cautiously says its dynamic managing director Alan Corlett. Now all is in place: the right infrastructure, marketing strategy, production techniques, new ideas and financial backing.

And full production has been unleashed in Jorvik House, its modern factory in Outgang Lane amid the screech and flare of computer-aided design machines which in just 15 minutes carve out filters so miraculously perfect that they are devoid of adjustable tuning screws, gadgets individually worth hundreds or thousands of pounds, destined to block out and receive signals on giant telecom transmitters or in the cockpits of jet fighters.

Mr Corlett and his managers took the devices to the US, to Scandinavian countries, to Europe and they were bound to take off. Its world-leading diplexer designs were more reliable, less costly to produce and, more importantly, gave better performance than anything the potential buyers had seen.

The BSC Filters team recently embarked on a careful reconnoitring programme, ruling out Germany after studying the market then settling on three out of ten firms they visited in France with which they felt they could build a close relationship. The result was a trio of contracts worth a total of around £250,000 "but potentially worth millions," says Mr Corlett.

Now the firm which last year moved from Clifton Moor, is bracing itself for another growth spurt and is hiring staff accordingly. He says: "Within the next couple of months we will be looking for a quality controller and a purchaser, and within four months we will hire possibly two more for our machine shop."

Mr Corlett, who studied microwave communication at Southampton University, worked as sales manager for GEC Plessey in Lincolnshire before starting his own company, Microwave Marketing. A year later, in 1989 he launched BSC with Andrew Stringer, now its production director. Later Nigel Cunningham became BSC's managing director. But 18 months after launch Nigel died of a heart attack, aged 32. The remaining directors decided to carry on. "But we were cautious," recalls Mr Corlett. "We worked well within our capabilities, building up a relationship with around 15 companies in the UK." Later Mr Corlett became full-time MD and Dr Steve Chandler, of Bradford University, joined to create new projects.

Mr Corlett, who welcomes the concept of York as a "science city" believes that the City of York could do more to help. "They should look at ways of fostering companies likely to succeed even if it means subsidies. It would be council taxpayers' money well spent because it doesn't take very much to create one job."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.