Refrigeration systems specialist Hubbard Products is to move its operations to a 50,000 sq ft site on the Ransomes Europark in Ipswich.

Hubbard, which has been based at nearby Otley for 42 years, is to relocate its research, development and manufacturing facilities in stages, starting from next month, with its entire 165-strong workforce expected to have been transferred to the new site by the end of January 2016,

The company has a reputation for developing energy-efficient commercial and transport refrigeration systems, and is an exclusive partner of the Dearman Engine Company, a pioneer in the use of liquid nitrogen and liquid air as an environmentally-friendly form of cooling.

Pat Maughan, chief executive of Hubbard Products, said: “Our Otley site has been a good home to us for nearly half a century. We will be sorry to be leaving.

“However, our success at developing innovative refrigeration solutions in collaboration with some of the UK’s best-known retailers and developers of zero carbon technology means that we have outgrown the site. Fortunately, we have been able to find a new location that will allow our most important asset, our staff, to move with us.

He added: “The Europark location offers us the opportunity to reorganise and update our future manufacturing systems to suit our growing ambitions and technical requirements. This development will enable us to respond promptly and precisely to the changing needs of the global markets we sell to.”