Bosses at hi-tech engineering firm Oxford Instruments have unveiled the strongest set of figures in the company’s history.

The company, based at Tubney Woods, near Abingdon, has seen its pre-tax profits soar by more than 120 per cent over the last year to £26.2m.

Chairman Nigel Keen said: “It is now five years since we announced our plan to double the size of Oxford Instruments and significantly improve our margins.

“Our successful implementation of this strategy is reflected by this set of results, the strongest performance in the group’s 51-year history.”

Mr Keen added that industrial markets had strengthened “faster than we had expected” after the recession and new product lanches had also been highly successful.

Now chief executive Jonathan Flint has outlined a new three-year growth plan for the company.

Called the 14 Cubed plan, the aim is to grow revenue and have a net return on sales of 14 per cent by 2014.

Mr Flint said: “The new plan will be driven by strong organic growth, continuous efficiciency improvements and targeted acqusitions.”

The company also announced that it had bought German microscope specialist Omnicron Microtechnology and a similar American firm, Omniprobe for an undisclosed sum.

Oxford Instruments employs 220 people at Tubney Woods out of a total worldwide workforce of 575.