Equipment systems engineering firm SL Controls is set to grow its workforce, adding 20 jobs as it expands into Europe.

The firm said it would hire equipment systems engineers and graduates by early next year to support the growing business, with expansion in Ireland and Europe planned. The company currently employs 51 people in Ireland and the UK.

The new jobs will be spread out across the firm’s five operating centres in Sligo, where it has its headquarters, Limerick, Galway, Dublin and Birmingham.

"The geographic spread of our business has been one of our biggest and best investments allowing us to recruit and retain top engineering talent and graduates who are keen to live near their home towns and families," said Keith Moran, managing director and cofounder of SL Controls.

SL Controls is targeting the food, medical device and pharma markets for its software integration services as part of its expansion. It said its turnover was on track to to reach €4.2 million by the end of the year, rising from €3.1 million in 2015.

Founded in Sligo in 2002 by Mr Moran and the company's chief technology officer Shane Loughlin, the company has developed in conjunction with Dublin Institute of Technology its own process for equipment system integration called DiVOM. SL Controls is also launching a new engineering software range. TotalLine, aimed at manufacturing clients.