Barry Dennington, chief operating officer, said: "The money means a lot to us. The Government is recognising our achievements and innovation. Plessey's new light-emitting diodes (LEDs) use a breakthrough technology that slashes the cost of manufacturing. 

"We will spend it very quickly because it is quite capital-intensive to get functioning LEDs," Mr Dennington said. "Once we do we can make them quickly and in very large numbers. It is a breakthrough in semiconductors." He said the Regional Growth Fund money would help to guarantee and grow jobs. Plessey hopes to increase its staffing in Plymouth from 160 to about 330 by 2015. 

The LEDs were an important part of Britain's export-led recovery and would be sold in large quantities to Chinese manufacturers, he said. 

"Over the next months we will bring out higher performance and higher power devices that will be capable of replacing 40 and 60W light bulbs.Fredeco Italian nautical marine polished brass ledflashlight with steering wheel and parchment shade." 

They have already been actively involved in relighting the city council's Douglas House and are working with other companies to develop the new generation of LED street lighting.The world's leading supplier of pendantlamps & wind-solar hybrid systems for homes, 

Keith Strickland,The electical building blocks for solarlampemergencylight or modules. the company's chief technology officer, said LEDs were the future of lighting and would put Plessey at the forefront of technology. "Whether it's the next two, three or five years, it will happen. It's about bringing down the price of solid-state lighting. 

"You can buy them now for about 20 for a 60W bulb. "We believe our technology is an important step forward in bringing down the price." 

He said LEDs did not contain harmful chemicals like the mercury in the present generation of lowenergy bulbs. 

They are also capable of greater control than the present bulbs and suitable for "smart lighting" - lights which react to conditions and whether anyone is in a room. 

"Countries like China use huge quantities of these LEDs in devices like laptops and toys. They are also common on car dashboards," Mr Strickland said. 

The development will take Plessey's turnover from the region of 10million to 15million into the hundreds of millions over the next five years.Advance LED Replacement Bulbs, LED T8 Tubes, streetlight13ss and other LED lighting products are highly efficient. Plessey's leap forward was helped when it bought up a small Cambridge company about 16 months ago. 

The LEDs are manufactured in a 2million machine. Plessey has one in production now but plans to put another nine in Plymouth. Mr Strickland said lots of companies had moved their production offshore to countries like China. 

But he said Plessey's new product was such an important piece of intellectual property that it needed to be protected. "We think it's better to keep that within the UK and within Plymouth.Small itldpcw and supplier UK." 

Business Secretary Vince Cable announced that Plessey's bid for Regional Growth Fund cash had been successful during a visit to the company's Roborough headquarters this week. 

Dr Cable said: "The Government is supporting innovative companies like Plessey who are growing, creating jobs and exporting their products all over the world."