A NORTH-EAST car parts manufacturer, which was on the verge of collapse 10 years ago, will today announce the biggest deal in its history.

Nifco UK beat rivals from Germany, Japan and China to win a prized 10-year Ford contract, worth £50m, that will create 50 jobs at the firm's factories in Eaglescliffe, near Stockton.

The landmark contract to make a million parts a year for Ford’s new low emission engines will support Nifco’s plan to build a new factory, as well as almost double staff numbers and turnover over the coming decade.

Nifco will announce details of the work this morning to an audience of business leaders, workers and Chancellor George Osborne.

Mike Matthews, the firm’s Darlington-born boss, said securing the contract to make high tech thermostat housings was a “huge coup” that showed North-East engineering was still valued around the world.

He added: “To land this deal we beat some of the biggest names in the business – including the Germans. It is a massive vote of confidence in our manufacturing industry.

Follow Business Editor Andy Richardson's live tweets from Nifco where Chancellor George Osborne will be making a speech and fielding questions from the region's business leaders

“My mother always told me: ‘shoot for the moon, even if you don’t make it you will go a long way.’

“We have ambitions to keep on growing, and I have no doubt we will achieve that because our region has the best workforce in the world.”

James Ramsbotham, chief executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is fantastic news for Nifco, its workforce and the North-East manufacturing sector generally. It is testament to the hard work of everyone associated with this powerhouse of a business that it can win such high-value contracts and add Ford to its roster of blue-chip global clients.

“Nifco continues to go from strength to strength and long may it continue.”

Mr Osborne said: “Nifco’s continued success along with its new contract with Ford, is fantastic news for the North-East?."

Since Mr Matthews took the helm in 2008, Nifco UK has enjoyed a remarkable transformation from a loss-making operation at a run-down factory on Yarm Road, Stockton that was under threat of closure, to a £60m turnover business employing more than 500 staff.

By the end of 2018 it expects to have 800 staff and top £100m a year turnover.

The Tees Valley company produces about 25 million plastic parts a month, from door handles to cup holders, for car makers including Nissan, Honda and Jaguar Land Rover.

Last year, it opened its second new factory in three years on Durham Lane, Eaglescliffe. The Ford deal will see Nifco bosses step-up plans to construct a third plant.

*See next Wednesday's Jobs&Business supplement for a feature on Nifco's runaway success.