County Tyrone-based CDE (www.cdeglobal.com), a leading provider of wet-processing equipment for the construction, mining, sand and aggregates, and waste-recycling sectors, officially opened its new global headquarters in Cookstown last month.

Over the last 25 years, the company has designed and installed almost 2,000 turn-key systems around the world. Having expanded its team by 65% over the last two years, it now plans to create another 150 jobs by 2020.

Its new facility can accommodate over 400 people and houses the world’s largest engineering team dedicated to wet-processing technologies.

Managing director Brendan McGurgan said: “As we continue to see strong growth in markets around the world for our range of wet-processing equipment, our new headquarters provides an outstanding base to develop our business and our workforce.”

CDE chairman Tony Convery said: “Our goal is to deliver a consistent world-class service to our customers, and we now have a world-class headquarters from which to do that.

"It is somewhere that we are very proud to bring customers to from around the world, and it will help us to continue to recruit the very best people in the industry.”

At the opening ceremony, the firm also announced the creation of CDE Talent Camp, which will run between 24 and 28 June this year.

It will give 15- to 17-year-olds at schools and colleges in Northern Ireland the opportunity to take their first steps into engineering.

After the application process, 20 pupils will be selected to spend a week at CDE’s new base, meeting its engineers, exploring its operations, and gaining invaluable engineering and business experience.