Caernarfon-based PPM Technology, an award-winning company setup by the Welsh inventor of the electronic breathalyser, is set to pass the £1 million turnover mark for the first time this year — on the back of strong export sales, which currently account for 85% of its business.

The company (www.ppm-technology.com), which manufactures toxic gas monitors and indoor air quality sensors, has seen its turnover rise consistently in recent years, from £660,000 in 2014 to £850,000 at the end of its last financial year in August.

In the first five months of its new financial year, turnover has already reached £550,000, putting the company well on course to break the £1 million mark.

PPM was originally set up by Tom Parry Jones, whose Lion Laboratories developed the world’s first electronic breathalyser, in the early 1990s. After a management buy-out in 1999, the company changed focus to exploit a newly emerging market for its products in Asia.

It had been selling its formaldehyde monitors mostly to the hospital market in the UK, the European Union and the USA, but new legislation designed to combat Sick Building Syndrome meant that a new market for PPM’s products emerged in Japan.

First, the product had to be adapted to meet stringent legislative requirements and to cope with the hot and humid conditions in Japan — a process that took three to four years.

New markets were then quickly opened up, not just in Japan but also in China, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

This success was reflected in the company’s turnover, which rose from £150,000 at the time of the management buy-out in 1999 to £515,000 in 2004.

Sales have since continued to rise, breaking new records year on year.

Key to the company’s export growth has been support from the Welsh government, including help with participating in trade missions and attendance at key exhibitions, as well as general export advice.