ONE of the region’s last surviving coal miners is targeting £50m rail work to “fire the growth engines” and power on from its traditional roots, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Hargreaves Services is bidding to lay foundations for the HS2 link.

Bosses last night said they hope to take advantage of the £1bn opportunities available to build the high-speed rail route, which the Government says will improve train journeys for passengers between the North, the Midlands and the South.

However, the Echo can also confirm the business, based in Esh Winning, County Durham, is pushing ahead to create another North-East public limited company (PLC), by spinning off an energy division, and pressing ahead to transform a former Scottish open cast mine into a housing development.

Its HS2 ambition could be realised next year, with sub-contracting deals for earthmoving, to install necessary rail infrastructure, needing to be in place so work can begin in 2019.

The plans come as the business continues to branch away from its coal origins to surmount a weaker market.

Hargreaves was previously hit by the closure of Redcar’s SSI UK steelworks, where it supplied the fuel to fire the Thai operator’s coke ovens, and has also felt the effects of coal-fired power station closures, such as Ferrybridge C.

Gordon Banham, chief executive, told the Echo that the firm was improving its standing, with its diversification a key factor.

Highlighting a £4.1m pretax profit, compared to a £10.6m loss a year ago, and revenue of £342.9m in preliminary results for the year to May 31, Mr Banham said he was happy with Hargreaves’ progress and proud it is still a North-East PLC.

He told the Echo: “For the North-East, it is important that PLCs like Hargreaves survive and carry on.

“It means better quality jobs for the region, as opposed to more Costa coffees.

“The fact we are alive and well is good for the North-East.

“We have a big earthworks division and if you drive around the A14 at Cambridge you will see lots of our trucks clearing the way for the widening of the road.

“We have moved soil to get to coal in the past and we are now moving soil to make a platform for roads.

“There is £1bn of potential for HS2 and we hope to get a slug of that work.

“It will be about £250m to £350m a year and we have identified £50m of that; we don’t think we’re being overambitious.”

The work would be overseen by Hargreaves’ civil engineering subsidiary CA Blackwell Group, which the County Durham operator bought early last year to elevate its status in the earthworks sector.

Although admitting officials are carrying out a review alongside Blackwell management to focus on lower risk contracts after “picking out the jewels”

from its deal, Mr Banham said the division will play a major role in any future successes.

He said: “Blackwells is quite diverse and has a real pedigree in terms of the projects it has worked on, which include the Channel Tunnel.

“It was a bit like a car boot sale, we bought a selection and there were a few things we did not want and we picked out the jewels we wanted.

“HS2 is set to be the largest earthworks contracting opportunity since the establishment of the UK motorway network.

“We believe the group, drawing on the skills and credentials of CA Blackwell, is well positioned to win significant business.”

However, Mr Banham said the firm was also hoping to find success with Brockwell Energy, which it has created to oversee wind, gas and waste-to-energy projects.

Bosses previously revealed the endeavour has a number of projects on the table, including a large onshore wind development and a Scottish waste scheme with the capacity to process around 200,000 tonnes of rubbish every year.

The company is now looking to spin-off Brockwell, which it says will make it easier to gain the capital needed to deliver projects, and Mr Banham said he hopes that venture can provide a boost to the North-East.

He said a spin-off will give Hargreaves the “best of both worlds”, since it can remain a minority shareholding while benefiting from rental agreements.

He said: “We hope it will be listed in the North- East; it would be a huge success for the region to have two listed companies.”

Mr Banham also highlighted the company’s work on Blindwells, a Scottish project aimed at turning a former coal mine into a town development containing thousands of homes close to Edinburgh, and added that despite all its changes, the group hadn’t yet given up on coal.

He added: “Blindwells is going to be a huge development and will help fire the growth engines.

“The granting of planning permission in March represented a significant milestone and our plan remains to develop the basic site infrastructure before selling the site in parcels to housebuilding specialists.

“We have moved away from coal but it is still in our DNA and is flowing through our veins.

“If you buy a bag of coal from the garage forecourt, you probably bought it from us, so there is still a coal business.

“There is a lot of hidden potential in the group.”