A Plymouth manufacturer has begun work on two MoD sub-contracts, valued at around £2 million.

Pipex specialises in the manufacture of corrosion resistant construction products including thermoplastics and advanced composites.

It has been commissioned to fabricate and supply Glass Reinforced Epoxy (GRE) pipe systems for The Prince of Wales aircraft carrier, one of two of the largest warships to be built in the UK.

The Pipex pipework will be integral to the vessels' chilled water, waste hot water, ballast and sea water cooling systems.

The Roborough-based company, which employs 126 staff, said that the contract wins would secure ongoing work on site until 2013. The commissions take the total value of work secured by Pipex on the aircraft carriers to £5.5 million, since it won two initial contracts to supply and fit materials and fabricate pipework for the first aircraft carrier, The Queen Elizabeth.

The builds are being undertaken by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, in separate blocks across six UK shipyards, including North Devon's Appledore. Both will be eventually being assembled at the Babcock dockyard, in Rosyth.

The company's work on the Queen Elizabeth commission was recently completed and it has now begun work on pipework for The Prince of Wales, following the announcement of two separate extensions to the original contracts.

Work is also set to begin in December on a separate, £500,000 contract to manufacture and supply phenolic grating, which will form decking and walkways on both ships.

Final delivery is expected to be in September next year for The Queen Elizabeth – which is due to launch in 2015, and September 2013 for The Prince of Wales, which is expected to be launched in 2018.

Pipex chief executive Bill Murphy said: "These aircraft carriers are the largest warships ever produced by the UK MOD and it is a tremendous accolade to be involved in this prestigious flagship project. "The contracts continue to cement our place as one of Europe's leading providers of composite materials."

Pipex has also been shortlisted for five national industry awards, in categories ranging from its green production process, through to its customer service.

It has made the finals of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers' Manufacturing Excellence Awards 2011, which will take place at London's Dorchester hotel in November. Assessors and moderators from the organisation visited the Pipex facility this week.

The Manufacturing Excellence programme offers a detailed benchmarking and assessment process to UK manufacturers.

IME's director of engineering, Colin Brown, said: "Pipex is a fantastic business that is helping to ensure manufacturing remains at the heart of Plymouth's economy. "It is exciting to see a company excelling in so many different areas of its business."

The business was set up by current chairman Alan Smith in 1975.