A COMPANY hoping to build the largest magnet in the world is looking for 80 new staff.

Oxford Instruments group is aiming to bounce back after announcing 150 redundancies last year. After slimming down its structure, it now has three subsidiaries instead of five Superconductivity, Analytical and Medical.

Superconductivity, based at Tubney Wood, near Abingdon, and in Eynsham, is looking to recruit 40 specialist engineers and 40 manufacturing technicians.

Managing director Steve McQuillan explained that although the business had made 30 people redundant last year, the redundant posts were mostly managerial and the company was now focusing on certain areas of business.

He said: "Applications such as life sciences and medical are growing, leading to new opportunities for the company.

"This plus our recent re-focusing has highlighted specific recruitment needs."

The company makes half the super-conducting magnets used worldwide, shipping one every six hours.

The world's largest magnet will be part of a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) system, being used by scientists aiming to 'map' the human genome the genetic structure of all the cells in the body.