Hi-tech engineering firm Oxford Instruments has reported a major rise in its fortunes.

The firm which employs more than 240 staff at its Tubney Woods headquarters and is the current Oxfordshire Business of the Year, made a pre-tax profit of £23.1m for the half year to September 30, compared to £18.7m for the same period last year.

Chief executive Jonathan Flint said the encouraging figures meant the business was firmly on track to achieve its “14 Cubed Objectives” to realise a compound annual revenue growth rate of 14 per cent and a return on sales of 14 per cent by the financial year ending March 2014.

He added: “We have a broad spread of geographies and technologies, exposure to markets with long term structural growth, a strong pipeline of new products and a focus on improving efficiency.

“These factors should help us to remain resilient against a backdrop of sustained global economic uncertainty.”