Melksham-based firm Avon Rubber is expecting a strong second half of the year, according to an interim management statement.


The Hampton Park West firm, which manufactures gas masks and associated equipment as well as dairy milking products, predicts that by the end of the year orders will be up by 38 per cent.


The firm, which employs more than 100 people at the Melksham factory, has large contracts with the US Department of Defense and in the middle east to supply gas masks, and also said that sales were strong on the dairy side of the business as it seeks to expand into China.


Net debt on June 30 stood at £10.2m, £1.6m lower than at September 30 last year.


In May the company announced that profits were up by six per cent to £4.6m in the six months to March 31.


A management statement said: “With improved operational performance from protection and defence and the dairy business performing strongly, we continue to expect that the results for the second half of the year will be stronger than the first half.”


After posting a loss in 2008 Avon axed 72 jobs and moved some of its dairy operation to the Czech Republic. It has turned things around and recorded profits ever since.