A manufacturer of pumps and hydropower machinery has been recognised as being among the highest performing in the world.

Gilbert Gilkes and Gordon Ltd has successfully achieved Oliver Wight’s class A performance in planning and control.

Andy Poole, CEO of Gilkes, said it was globally recognised as the industry standard for best practice in “process integration and improvement”.

He said class A is awarded only to the highest performing companies who attain sustained performance levels of more than 95 per cent.

He said: “Class A is excellence through people.

“The drive and passion for change that class A has engendered among our employees has been incredible; it has united our business.

“The Gilkes board strongly believes that our employees are the ultimate differentiator and achieving class A is the start of our ongoing drive to create a high-performance workplace.”

Dawn Howarth, associate at Oliver Wight, presented Gilkes with the class A award on Monday.

She said: “We work with many large organisations, but I can safely say that many of the elements Gilkes presented this week are some of the best I have seen.

“The team has taken the principles and concepts of class A, applied them to both self-educate, and design a process that is already at the core of who and what Gilkes is.

“In so doing, Gilkes has brought a level of control to the business it wouldn’t have believed even existed when we first met, back in 2015.”

Gilkes, which employs around 200 people at its Canal Head premises, has specialised in hydropower and pumping systems since 1856 and exports to more than 85 countries around the world.

The company has supplied more than 6,700 hydroelectric turbines worldwide and supplies engine cooling pumps to engine manufacturers, including Caterpillar, Cummins and GE Transportation.

In October Gilkes Hydro received an order from Mulanje Renewable Energy, in Malawi, for the supply and commissioning of two hydro turbines for the country’s Ruo Hydroelectric Project in Malawi.

Once commissioned the scheme will produce in the region of 6MW of power.