Cannon Tri-Laminates, based at Golborne, near Leigh, develops and manufactures specialist textiles that are resistant to everything from chemical warfare agents to a rugby player’s boot.

Customers include the Ministry of Defence, Boeing, Airbus Industries and Gilbert, which makes rugby balls used in international matches.

The company was founded in 2009 and it has established an international reputation, with around 70 per cent of its output exported to 17 countries including China, Korea, New Zealand and the US.

Husband and wife Duncan and Linda Cannon are managing director and finance director respectively, and son Paul is the production director.

Duncan, a chemist who formerly worked for manufacturing giants Dunlop and British Vita, said: "We have a major development on at the moment for a material I have invented and patented for use in convertible car hoods.

"The material contains a layer of aluminium so it reflects heat back into the car on cold days, saving fuel and reducing its carbon footprint.

"We are currently in negotiations to form a joint venture with a German company to supply a major car manufacturer that should be worth £5.5m a year."

Cannon is also the only approved supplier in the world of material used in poisonous gas-resistant hoods worn by US Air Force fighter pilots.

Cannon was founded in the depths of the recession and the family funded its start-up costs entirely from their own pockets, but Duncan said he was confident there was a ready market for its products.

He said: "Even though it was in the middle of the recession, we knew we had a clear run in our specialist markets as most of our competitors had withdrawn from it.

"Many of the big players in the industry have been broken up and sold off over the years.

"Those that remained were working with old belt-driven machines from before the war.

"The technical knowledge is just not there any more."

Cannon has recruited three staff to give it a workforce of 17, and Duncan says it has the capacity to triple production.