THE unveiling of a £9 million research and development centre has given a huge vote of confidence in a county engineering firm and helped secure future jobs.

More than 140 business leaders attended the launch of the state- of-the-art facility at aerospace company GE Aviation in Bishop's Cleeve last Wednesday.

The 30,000 square feet Electrical Power Integration Centre (EPIC) will enable GE to develop cutting-edge power and avionic technology for military and civilian aircraft.

The president and chief executive officer of American-owned GE Aviation, Lorraine Bolsinger praised the skills of the 1,700 strong workforce on the site. It is recruiting more than 100 extra people.

She said: "GE is focused on innovation, from jet engines, power generation and financial services to water processing and medical imaging.

"Thomas Edison our founder said: 'I figure out what the world needs and then I proceed to invent it'.

"That means jobs, giving back to communities and standing tall in an industry that needs to be innovative and technology driven."

She praised the adaptation of a 1940s building that is now bristling with energy-producing solar panels and many other innovative features.

"Electrical power engineers and technicians at the centre will develop some of the latest end to end power generation, distribution, load and avionic control technologies," she said.

"GE employees worldwide are dedicated to turning innovative ideas into leading products and services that solve some of the world's toughest problems."

The new centre means GE can create an aircraft's entire electrical system in the laboratory.

Simon Linacre, European power business executive for GE Aviation said: "By expanding our electrical power modelling and simulation capability, we are better able to serve our customers.

"This enables us to correct problems before hardware is even built."

GE Aviation's products are installed on the world's leading aircraft including the Apache attack helicopter and Boeing 777 airliner.

The soon to disappear South West Regional Development Agency provided a £3 million grant towards the centre.

The agency's Director of International Business, Graham Harrison, said: "At a time when the Government is seeking to re-balance the UK economy in favour of those companies designing and manufacturing things, this is exactly the type of project they have in mind.

"Knowledge based, research intensive, complex and providing the means to develop better products more quickly.

"With much talk of stagnation in the western economies it is wonderful to see world-class facilities opening which will have a positive impact on GE's customers, shareholders and staff as they begin to grow again.

"The staff that will use of this facility will be amongst the most skilled in the UK and working on projects of enormous significance to its future prosperity."