Drug device giant Bespak has expanded its King's Lynn workforce following the closure of its Yorkshire factory.

Bespak parent company Consort Medical said a number of employees in Sheffield had been given the chance to transfer, but there had also been 'steady recruitment' at the Norfolk site as a result of the consolidation of its injectable drug delivery device business.

Sheffield-based The Medical House was sold to Consort Medical in November 2009 when it became part of its Bespak division.

A spokesman for Consort Medical said the transfer of manufacturing activities from Sheffield to King's Lynn was driven purely by the need to achieve operational excellence and it was not a financial decision.

She said: 'The Sheffield site was formally closed in May this year. However, the integration of manufacturing into King's Lynn has been going on for a number of months and all development programmes were transferred over, none were cancelled.

'A number of employees at Sheffield were offered the chance to transfer their jobs over to King's Lynn. In addition, there has been steady recruitment at the King's Lynn site.'

The company would not disclose the numbers of staff involved in either the closure or the move.

News of the move comes as Consort Medical published record year-end results this month. Revenue from its products and services increased 8pc to �136.6m at its year end on April 30. In its Bespak division revenue increased 12pc to �93.3m and operating profit increased by 17pc to �18.2m.

Bespak – which is best known for producing drug delivery devices for respiritory medicine – produces more than 500 million drug delivery devices each year.

During Consort Medical's financial year Bespak launced a major project – its Integrated Dose Counter.

The company said in its results report that its development portfolio had progressed well, but that some of its programmes in the pipeline that were scheduled for launch in 2012 were now expected to launch in 2013, due to regulatory delays.

The results report also said last year Bespak had renewed its largest valve contract on an exclusive basis for the long-term and the company also won its first business in China.

Chief executive of Consort Medical Jon Glenn said: 'Our core business continues to perform well and our new diversified range of opportunities positions us well for sustained future growth.'