About 100 staff have already been taken on by Isola Werke UK in Cumbernauld, which makes and supplies base material for the printed circuit board industry.

The �28m extension has been dedicated to the memory of the German-owned company's UK Managing Director David Heywood, who died in April.

Isola: Makes material for circuit boards

It doubles the size and capacity of the factory, which was founded in 1985, and is part of a worldwide investment programme.

The project was won for Scotland by Locate in Scotland, the joint Scottish Office/Scottish Enterprise inward investment agency, working in partnership with Lanarkshire Development Agency.

Isola AG's Managing Director Michael Kowalski said: "The Scottish plant has a key role to play within Silicon Glen, providing high quality bespoke products to the electronics industry."

Opening the extension, Scottish Office Industry Minister Lord Macdonald said: "Not only does this represent one of the largest investments ever made in Scotland by a German company, but it is also a tremendous vote of confidence in the company's Scottish operations."