An award-winning company which creates shockabsorbing sports and military equipment has expanded with a new test lab and recruitment drive.

D3O employs 45 people at its Portslade base and has built a new £250,000 research and development testing laboratory to simulate major impacts.

The firm has expanded its portfolio of patented materials from three to 17 and supplies global brands involved in extreme sports, electronics, industrial work, law enforcement and military.

It has undergone a three-fold expansion and appointed more than 20 newtechnology and operations staff in the last 18 months – with more appointments planned.

The firm’s groundbreaking technology is used to make soft and flexible materials with freeflowing molecules – which lock together on impact to reduce the transmitted force.

The new test lab on North Street has a two-storey rig designed to test high-velocity impacts to American sports and military standards – and aims to make the firm a world leader.

Tim Brown, chief product officer responsible for research and development and operations, said: “D3O is a solutions provider in the truest sense of the phrase.

“We offer our customers a personalized service from material selection to product design, rapid-prototyping, process development, performance testing and analysis inhouse.

“We have invested in state-of-the-art equipment to enhance our design and development service and will continue to drive improvement to our offering.”

Sports products include American football and baseball helmet liners for Schutt Sports, snowboard short-liners for Burton and mountain-biking and skiing body protectors for Scott Sports.

The three-time motorcycle road race champion Ryuichi Kiyonari is a client and took a tour of D3O’s factory in Portslade last year.

In electronics the firmsupplies Tech21 with protective cases sold in Apple Stores worldwide.

It also supplies the French Gendarmerie with riot vests, US Special Forces with knee pads and English police forces with ankle protectors for Dr Martens boots.

D3O has funding to develop a new shock absorption helmet for soldiers to reduce brain injuries caused by bomb blasts.

Senior appointments include development projects manager Jeremy Rossall and senior designers Martin Miller and Guillaume Parrin.