“A DREAM come true,” was how a family-run firm described the news it is to become the UK’s only washing machine manufacturer following a successful Regional Growth Fund bid.

County Durham manufacturer Ebac, which employs 186 people at its Newton Aycliffe dehumidifier and water cooler plant, has been allocated the cash to help finance a £7m project that could create 200 jobs.

The project, which Ebac say would be impossible without enterprise funding, could see the firm produce up to 100,000 washing machines and the same number of fridge-freezers a year. The UK imports about four million washing machines a year.

The firm, founded by John Elliott in 1973, hopes to raise another £6m through private finance to create an additional manufacturing facility near its headquarters on the Aycliffe Industrial Estate, in Newton Aycliffe.

It hopes production will start in the next 18 months to two years.

It is the second time Ebac has applied to the fund for a grant for the project, with its first bid, in Round Two last year, unsuccessful.

Managing director Pamela Petty, who is Mr Elliott’s daughter, told The Northern Echo: “I am absolutely chuffed and excited and a little bit nervous,” she said.

“It is a dream come true.

Without this, the project just would not have been possible for us.

“It is fantastic news, both for us and for the area.”

Phil Wilson, MP for Sedgefield, said: “I would like to congratulate all of the North-East companies that have been successful with their bids to the Regional Growth Fund. In particular, I am delighted that in my constituency Ebac is being given money to support its plans for growth.”

RAPIDLY-EXPANDING Teessport is to embark on a multi-million pound upgrade project which will help ship larger
quantities of Redcar steel around the world after securing Regional Growth Fund cash.

PD Ports will put the undisclosed sum towards the project, which will allow the port to dock ships with twice the existing cargo capacity.

That means steel can be shipped in larger quantities
from the SSI UK in Redcar, which reopened earlier this year when the Thai firm bought the mothballed plant.

When work is complete, the port will be able to take ships with cargoes of up to 90,000 tonnes – allowing it to keep up with SSI’s production target next year of 3.6m tonnes.

The port has already doubled capacity of its container terminal area making it the second largest in the North of England.