DPS Engineering is to create 80 new jobs in 2015 the year it celebrates 40 years in business.

The company said more than 50 of the new roles will be in Cork and Dublin, with the remainder in mainland Europe.  In the last 3 years alone the company has increased its turnover by 35% and its workforce by 50%.

DPS Engineering was founded in 1974. Its management, headed by managing director Frank Keogh, bought out the business in 1996 with the backing of external investors.

DPS (Design and Planning Services) serves a range of clients in the pharmaceutical, life science, advanced technologies and oil and gas sectors. It also offers a range of additional services, including project management, planning, engineering design, construction, professional outsourcing and consulting. Named clients include Astra Zeneca and Dow Chemicals.

The group said turnover has increased significantly in the past few years, rising from €55 million in 2012 to a projected €75 million in 2014. Its workforce has also grown over the same period from 530 to 810.

The company, which is headquartered in Ireland and has offices in Dublin and Cork as well as in Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Israel, Singapore, the US and Belgium, said it is to undergo a full rebrand in the near future.

DPS first expanded outside Ireland by establishing an office in Leiden in the Netherlands in 1998. It expanded into the US in 2011 when it acquired Biometics in Boston. Earlier this year it expanded its operations there with the acqusition of Project Planning and Delivery (PP+D) in Durham, North Carolina, for an undisclosed sum.

“DPS has seen phenomenal successes in the past few years, with the creation of 280 new jobs in three years and our expansion into the US. Based on significant recent wins in mainland Europe focused on advanced technology, we expect to be employing 900 people by the end of 2015,” said Mr Keogh.