STAFF numbers at a seafood business have risen much faster than anticipated in its first 18 months.

When Cumbrian Seafoods’ plant at Seaham, County Durham, started operating in September 2007 it employed 100 people and estimated it would take on a total of 350.

It now employs more than 550 and supplies more than 1.5 million packs of chilled seafood a week to major retailers.

Cumbrian’s managing director, Peter Vassallo, who founded the company in 1997, said: “This has been a major challenge for the business.”

On Friday, the company’s facility at the Foxcover Industrial Park was officially opened by Ian Williams, director for business and industry at regional development agency One NorthEast, who unveiled a plaque.

The company, based in Maryport, Cumbria, has invested £15m in the plant.