A TECHNOLOGY firm says North-East work is providing fresh impetus.

Filtronic has hailed the continuing demand for its Orpheus e-band transceiver, which is made at its County Durham base.

The company’s transceivers, as well as its antennas, are known for helping increase mobile phone masts’ performances and the amount of data networks can carry.

According to a trading update for the six months to November 30, the success of Orpheus has helped Filtronic strengthen sales considerably.

Bosses said revenues stood at £21.6m in the period, with broadband accounting for £2.9m.

A spokesman said the business, which operates from NetPark, in Sedgefield, said it was pleased with its progress, revealing it is keen to secure further contracts.

He added: “The board is pleased with the progress made and remains confident on the long-term prospects.

“However, it remains mindful that sales are currently concentrated on a small number of customers.

“Roll-out programmes for wireless infrastructure projects are naturally very lumpy and we expect that visibility on the pattern of customer orders will be limited until our antenna products gain greater traction across the broader market.

“Broadband continues to see incremental growth in sales of Orpheus, with strong demand from our lead customer.”

The business was previously forced to shed a handful of jobs after delays to product introductions hit revenues.

However, officials always said they were committed to reviving its fortunes and previously told The Northern Echo it was primed for growth, highlighting the promise of the 4G network, which has helped launch gaming crazes such as Pokémon Go, and opportunities across WiFi on aeroplanes and trains.

Earlier this year, Rob Smith, chief executive, said the company, which employs about 65 workers at Sedgefield, had sent more than 1,500 examples of its Orpheus product to a customer since its launch in November last year and confirmed in excess of 150 test units had gone to firms across the telecoms and aerospace sectors.

According to the spokesman, work on aeroplanes and trains has great potential.

He added: “Broadband is gaining traction in the design and manufacture of bespoke filters and the provision of specialist high-frequency assembly and test services for the defence and aerospace markets.

“Whilst the early orders are modest in size, they represent long-term platform business opportunities that will make an increasingly significant contribution to broadband’s performance.”