Last year Leyland Trucks had its best year to date building 17,000 trucks -- with a new truck rolling off the production line every five minutes at the plant off Croston Road, Leyland.

The company now has an annual turnover of £550million and employs almost 1,200 people, making it one of the single largest employers in Leyland.

Leyland Trucks may not enjoy the same status as when it employed more than 30,000 people in its glory days during the 1950s and 60s, but it offers a stark contrast to the image of truck building as an industry in decline across Britain in the 1970s.

Managing director, Stuart Heys, said the company has gone from strength to strength since a managment buy-out rescued the company from financial ruin when DAF NV, its previous parent company, was declared bankrupt in 1993. "It's about investment in people, product and plant," he said, "Leyland Trucks is a world class business."

Trucks are only made to order and are delivered within hours of completion

The company's DAF LF brand is now a market leader but success has not come cheap or without constant quest for innovation.

In 1998 American firm Paccar bought Leyland Trucks. It has just completed a £35m investment programme in the plant, including a £5.4m robot for painting truck chassis that was installed last year.

Mr Heys said technological and IT advances have been crucial in the development of the company, as well as empowering its workforce.

The hi-tech programme dv/MockU allows the company's 100 designers to create fully functional 3D models which can be viewed on a giant video screen, allowing inconsistencies to be iron out in earlier in the design process.

Previously engineers had to create full-size real life models, a time consuming process.

The company also operates the Every Little Counts scheme where employees are paid £1 per suggestion and are encouraged to make a number of suggestions each year.

Jim Sumner, operations director, added: "Constant inovation is key."