A PIPELINE maintenance and inspection company is eyeing global expansion after securing £500,000 of investment.

Durham Pipeline Technology (DPT) already works in several overseas markets, but is now investing in new equipment which will enable it to become a global company.

The firm is also looking to expand its 14-strong workforce to help accommodate the anticipated new levels of demand.

The business, which works in the lucrative oil and gas, water and nuclear industries, has secured financial backing to ensure its growth plans become reality.

Nick Searby, DPT’s managing director, said: “We are already operating in many countries across the globe including the Middle East, North America and Australia, as well as the UK.

“Our focus now is to grow our existing network of distributors and agents worldwide and really capitalise on the opportunities the global market has to offer.

“To realise this ambition, we are investing heavily in a new fleet of tools that we will be able to use across the oil and gas and water industries, and we are also adding extra resource to the business by recruiting several new design engineers and project managers.”

DPT, based at the North- East Innovation Centre in Gateshead, was founded in 2003 as a spin-off from Durham University. Its groundbreaking “bristle tractor”

technology is the idea of former Durham University Professor Ernie Appleton, the recently retired technical director of the business.

Its patented technology uses brushes to drive the tools backwards and forwards inside pipes for cleaning, maintenance and inspection purposes.

The design is able to negotiate pipelines which are complex in geometry, thereby rendering conventional technology unsuitable.

DPT has been helped in its mission to achieve a global presence through a £500,000 deal led by NorthStar Equity Investors (NSEI), which has backed the company for several years.

Through its co-investment fund (CoIF), NSEI, the region’s leading venture capital firm specialising in high growth technology businesses, has invested £300,000 in DPT, with existing investors Enterprise Ventures and senior management within the business together investing the remaining £200,000.

Ian Richards, portfolio manager at NSEI, said: “DPT has demonstrated continued growth since our original CoIF investment of £250,000 four years ago and has firmly established itself within the market.

“The pipeline technology is groundbreaking and with continued support, we are confident that DPT’s longterm strategy of creating a multi-million pound global business will prove a success.”