One of Huddersfield’s biggest employers wants to build a new multi-million pound factory.

Turbochargers firm Cummins Turbo Technologies has revealed it is on the hunt for a site to house a state-of-the art manufacturing plant.

The company, which employs about 1,000 people, is seeking a location within a 10-mile radius of its existing complex at St Andrew’s Road, Turnbridge – so that could include both Kirklees or Calderdale.

But the company’s strong preference is to site the new facility in Huddersfield – reaffirming its commitment to the town.

And it said moving manufacturing to a new site would allow the firm to further develop its technical centre at St Andrew’s Road.

Currently the company has manufacturing on both sides of St Andrew’s Road with the technical centre of excellence and its research hub on the right as you travel towards the John Smith’s Stadium.

It is hoped the new plant could be operating as early as 2016.

Mark Firth, executive director for product line management and marketing at Cummins Turbo Technologies, said: “The company’s vision is to relocate manufacturing from the current site on St Andrew’s Road to a new location somewhere within a 10-mile radius.

“Having secured the next phase of the company’s already long history in the region, the move could lead to opportunities to grow the Huddersfield technical centre.

“We are extremely proud of our 60-year heritage in Huddersfield and believe we now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure the future of the business by fully exploiting market opportunities.”

He said: “The new site will enable us to create a centre of excellence at St Andrew’s Road serving our customers in north west Europe and ensuring we continue to deliver our high standards of customer service.”

 He said: “Holset turbochargers, which are at the heart of our business in Huddersfield, remain the component of choice for many international automotive customers – thanks to the expertise and experience of our highly skilled workforce.

“This really is a fantastic opportunity for us. In fact, we’ve never been better aligned for success.

“Our current customer base in north western Europe, our continuous improvement, our technologies, our market position – it is a once-in-a-lifetime chance.”

The announcement comes as the company presses ahead with work to produce a new Holset-branded turbo system for medium and heavy duty truck engines.

Back in January, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg visited the company to see progress on the new system, which is designed to recycle waste heat energy produced by the engine – to improve fuel efficiency and significantly lower CO2 emissions for operators.

The firm received £1.5m from the Regional Growth Fund – which it has matched from its own resources – to develop a prototype system.

The programme has created nine new jobs and helped to safeguard another 60 at the St Andrew’s Road site.

Cummins Turbo Technologies, which celebrated its 60th anniversary last year, was established in the town in 1952 as Holset Engineering Co Ltd and quickly developed a reputation for engineering components for diesel engines.

Now Holset turbochargers are the market leader in the global commercial diesel sector.