DECEMBER marked 20 years of engineering excellence for signal and video processing specialists RFEL.

The company was first registered on December 3, 1999 — and staff and guests of the company came together two decades later to mark the occasion with treats including a staff breakfast and birthday cakes.

RFEL was established to develop high-speed, real-time signal processing technology and has now grown rapidly to provide cutting edge signal and video processing performance required by the most advanced applications in the defence and homeland security markets.

The company started with a handful of employees in the home of one of the founders, John Lillington. Some of the current workforce have been with the company since the early days.

From humble beginnings, RFEL has grown to employ more than 30 people across two sites, with a global customer base.

The company has increased its footprint by opening a new production facility adjacent to the Newport head office.

This new area provides dedicated workspace for the production department, testing and dispatch of products.

RFEL’s managing director, Richard Streeter, said: “It’s great to see this company grow. In the five years I’ve been here our footprint has grown three-fold and the addition of this new production space gives us the capacity to deliver our products in the hundreds.

"The 20th year is a coming of age for RFEL — we’ve transitioned from a software company to a product company and have a really exciting pipeline of prospects ahead of us.

"It has been great to invite friends, families and guests to our Newport site to help us celebrate this important milestone."