A CONSTRUCTION and steel fabrication firm expects a record year as it revels in a booming order book.

Raisco, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, says it has already secured deals worth £4.3m, with a further £1.2m of sales expected this month.

Boss Gary Raistrick says the work means the company should go beyond its previous £7.5m turnover record.

Mr Raistrick said it is benefiting from higher demand, as the construction industry comes out of a four-month hiatus.

Pivotal to its resurgence, he said, is a 160-tonne residential apartment block project, in Whitecraigs, near Glasgow, for McTaggart Construction, and 450-tonne fabrication and erection contract for a new Lidl store, in South London.

It will also support STP Construction on a 40-tonne extension in Stanley, County Durham, and help Tolent on a Lidl outlet in Sunderland.

He said: “There seemed to be a massive lull from November to March, which has seen our forecast sales reduce; it seemed to be booming until the orders dropped off a cliff towards the end of the year.

“However, I think there’s going to be an even greater boom later this year and we’ve had an influx of orders throughout March and into April.

“We’ve already secured £4.3m for this financial year and are expecting another £1.2m of orders over the next few weeks.”

Raisco was last year awarded a contract to build a new Lidl store in Crook, County Durham.