Toby Churchill managing director James Rowe.

Cambridgeshire text-to-speech device company Toby Churchill is to open a US office in Denver, Colorado, in July.

The US sales division will be a branch of the UK company based in Over and will include sales and marketing, customer and technical support, servicing and repairs.

“This is an exciting new chapter for Toby Churchill,” said managing director James Rowe. “We look forward to learning from and supporting our US customers directly and are thrilled at the opportunity to build a supportive team in the US.

Company founder Toby Churchill developed an electronic communication aid to replace his lost ability to speak after contracting encephalitis in the late 1960s.

Recognising that others would benefit from the device, he incorporated the company in 1973 and started selling Lightwriter communication aids.