Engineering firm announces north-east expansion plans

The engineering sector in north-east England is to receive a boost after one firm announced plans to launch a new expansion programme that will see it double the size of its current factory in the region. Dyer Engineering has confirmed it is ready to embark upon a £2.5 million scheme that will take three years to complete and includes it taking on an additional 60 workers, reports the Northern Echo. Such a move is likely to create a wave of optimism in the area's engineering trade. Work is now underway on the new 20,000 sq ft plant at Annfield Plain in County Durham, and it is set to be ready to use in November. The completion of this facility will take the company's total workspace in the county to over 50,000 sq ft. Graeme Parkins, managing director at Dyer Engineering, explained: "Our growth will be carefully managed. We're confident about the future and particularly opportunities opening up for us in the oil and gas and energy sectors which are so vibrant. We are already finding success here. We're also confident that despite the skills shortage, we can fill the roles we are creating because we have a policy of up-skilling and promoting our workforce." With this news now in the public domain, it might be a good time for young people in the north-east to do all they can to gain experience and apply for the engineering jobs that are set to become available, of which ten per cent will ideally be apprentices. The firm believes that its expansion plans will help it to grow by 50 per cent over the next three years, with its turnover increasing from £8 million to £12 million. Once the 60 new jobs have been created and filled by experts in the field, the company's workforce will be 160 strong and it will be in a position to stop using the 12,000 sq ft plant it currently rents in Washington on Wearside.