Hozelock has announced that it plans to invest £1m in new state-of-the-art machinery at its plant in Birmingham.
The leading garden watering, spraying and pond equipment manufacturer says that the money will be spent on new moulding machinery, tooling and engineering resources.
Hozelock managing director, Peter Rush, said: "Competition has never been stiffer and in order to keep our lead we need to invest in new technology while improving the efficiency of our manufacturing techniques and the quality and competitiveness of our finished products."
The company revealed that it has been shortlisted for seven 2008 MX Awards by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers - the 'Oscars' of the industry that features the likes of Rolls Royce, Dunlop, Leyland and Perkins also in contention for accolades.