Regional Growth Fund: A look at the North-East's successful bids

Robert Young is buoyant. A senior figure at third-generation firm Hydram Engineering, Mr Young's excitement is palpable as he reveals the company's expansion and job creation plans.

The 37-year-old sheet metal and tube bending business, based in Chilton, near Ferryhill, County Durham, was a successful bidder in the Government's Regional Growth Fund (RGF).

Ministers awarded £300m in the fifth round of RGF, with 11 North-East projects backed to create and support 5,800 posts.

Mr Young said Hydram will create more than 60 jobs with its undisclosed cash support, as well as investing in new machinery to target further contracts.

The company already works with a number of firms with a strong regional presence, including Thorn Lighting, which has a plant in Spennymoor, and digger maker Komatsu, in Birtley, near Chester-le-Street.

Hydram Engineering, in Chilton, near Ferryhill

Mr Young, a systems and technical engineer, said: “We have 150 full-time staff, but this will create more than 60 jobs, and all of the workers will come from the local area.

“We are at full capacity at the moment and we need more people and more machinery, so help like this to grow is always nice.

“The manufacturing industry has taken a bit of a kicking in recent times, and we are probably one of the smallest companies on the list to get such support, so it is fantastic for us.

“The recession took real hold from the back end of 2008 until last year, but we have seen turnover increase 42 per cent in the last 12 months.

“We are moving on now and this has given us an advantage.

“Being a family company has its advantages too, and to take the football cliché, we are almost like the backbone of the team.

Business secretary Vince Cable is given a tour of Gestamp Tallent's factory, in Newton Aycliffe, by director of operations Peter Gallone

“We are always there and I think that gives people reassurance.”

Chemical company Fine Industries will also create highly-skilled jobs and bid for new contracts after benefiting from RGF support.

The business, in Seal Sands, near Billingham, employs about 300 workers, and says it will take on chemists, engineers, apprentices and graduates, as well as supporting scores of supply chain posts as it grows.

The company, which was last year the subject of a £25m cash injection from private equity firm NorthEdge Capital, says it will expand its plant to increase work on crop protection and pharmaceutical products by up to 20 per cent.

Craig Morgan, managing director, said: “We are delighted because this will allow us to make the next important step of installing new chemical-making equipment to boost capacity.

“These new assets will allow us to win new projects in crop protection and pharmaceuticals, which require complex multi-stage work in specialist equipment.

“The new jobs won't be astronomical numbers, but they will be significant.”

Mr Morgan exclusively told The Northern Echo last year that the firm, which exports to the US, Germany and Brazil, had plans to expand.

He said: “We are in a really fantastic place here in Teesside, it has everything that we want and need.”

A power cable firm says it will make its North-East base a real focus for its operations after a second successive RGF win.

JDR Cables, in Hartlepool, aims to invest heavily at its regional plant after ministers approved its round five application.

The company employs 160 workers in the North-East, with 500 staff globally, and said the region was the perfect place to continue its growth.

Helen Kettleborough, JDR's director of marketing and communications, said: “This is really about the ongoing development of the Hartlepool site and the evolution of our North-East base.

“We created the factory from scratch and it has received a significant amount of investment to reinforce our position in the offshore energy industry.

“The region is a very important part of our work because it possesses great skills in the offshore energy industries.

“The provisional award of this grant is great news and reflects the strength and credibility of our plans for future growth and make Hartlepool a centre of excellence for the global offshore energy industry.”

JDR previously sent more than 200km of cables to the £1.9bn 175-turbine London Array development and last year revealed a contract to make subsea power and communication cables for the Satah Al Razboot project, off the Abu Dhabi coast, in the United Arab Emirates.

Cleveland Potash mine

One of the region's biggest employers received one of the largest shares of regional RGF cash to support a £38m project mining the fertiliser mineral polyhalite.

Cleveland Potash was awarded £4.9m to install underground equipment and surface facilities to crush and screen the material, as well as upgrade rail and dock facilities.

The firm, based in Boulby, east Cleveland, says it will create 125 direct jobs and about 265 indirect jobs to secure the long-term future of the mine, which employs 1,100 workers.

Bosses say the company has sold small commercial quantities of the product since 2012, but is now in a position to ramp up production and meet rising demand.

Phil Baines, Cleveland Potash general manager, said: “We submitted an RGF application in 2011 for a polyhalite processing plant but, typical of such a unique project, further research significantly extended the timeline.

“However, we're now in the position to move ahead and pursue the potential for establishing the UK as a pioneer in the extraction and marketing of polyhalite, which can make a significant positive impact on world agriculture.”

An industrial trailer maker is creating more than 100 jobs in £3.5m plans to buy land and build a factory in Peterlee, east Durham.

Tinsley Special Products says it will nearly double its existing 180-strong workforce as it looks to develop trailers capable of various uses.

The company already has a base and a coatings division in Peterlee, with its head office in Eaglescliffe, near Stockton.

Its new factory is expected to open by the middle of next year.

At the start of this year, Tinsley revealed a deal to take over Tanfield Engineering Systems, securing the future of nearly 70 jobs.

Stuart Arnold, managing director, said: “We are in two years into a five-year plan and this is a great opportunity for us to continue our growth in Peterlee making modular transport.

“What was significant about the Tanfield deal was that it has Ministry of Defence and aerial platform expertise.

“We had no real market share in that, so the deal was good for us.”

Engineering firm Cummins is investing £10m of its own money to secure £1m of taxpayers' cash.

Bosses say it will allow the company to make more engines every hour and improve low emission tests to stay at the forefront of the industry.

Des McMenamin, Cummins plant manager, said: “The funding will help us maintain our competitiveness in a global market.

“We are investing in new technologies that enable us to keep our products at the leading edge of our industry and make us more efficient.”

The engine production-line at Cummins, in Yarm Road, Darlington

The Darlington-based company makes engines for trucks and buses, and will power the next fleet of London buses after being chosen by the Transport for London.

A prototype of a double-decker bus, which was painted silver rather than the iconic red, was previously driven around Darlington as the company carried out tests.

The expansion of a North-East car parts maker will be driven forward after it secured further RGF support.

Gestamp Tallent, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, is upgrading its factory after previously receiving £3.75m RGF backing in the fourth round of applications.

Bosses say the cash will allow the chassis maker to create about 320 jobs and buy robot welding assembly lines to increase production.

Gestamp makes makes chassis components for Nissan, Volvo, Ford and Jaguar at its Aycliffe plant.

New skilled jobs will be created by a chemical firm, which will build on its North-East research and development centre.

Johnson Matthey Davy Technologies (JMDT) says it will invest in new facilities in Stockton after receiving ministers' backing.

Bosses say the project will focus on developing chemical processes from alternative feedstocks to make chemical technologies more prevalent worldwide.

Antoine Bordet, JMDT managing director, said: “We are excited at the prospect of creating additional research and development facilities to support our growth.

“This grant, along with the skills available in the area, makes Teesside a very attractive location for the project.

“It will continue our commitment to the area in which we have been present for more than 100 years.”

Huntsman Polyurethanes, which employs more than 80 workers at Wilton, near Redcar, says its RGF success will be used to increase its site's energy efficiency.

The firm operates an aniline plant and a mononitrobenzene plant at Wilton, both of which are the largest of their type in the world.

The company makes products that are eventually used in a number of applications, including insulation and trainers.

The Government also backed the Let's Grow investment programme and car safety firm TRW Systems.

Let's Grow received £30m to support small businesses across the region.

The money will be used to provide grants to firms between £50,000 and £1m.

JDR Cables in Hartlepool

TRW operates a steering system plant in Houghton-le-Spring, near Sunderland, and an electronics operation in Peterlee.

The global company's steering division works on hydraulic power steering and electrically powered steering systems, with its electronics arm providing equipment ensuring vehicle safety.

WHAT IS THE REGIONAL GROWTH FUND?

• The Government's flagship job creation fund, the scheme aims to create jobs in hard hit areas.
• In round five, the North-East, backed by Tees Valley Unlimited and North-East Local Enterprise Partnership, bid for more cash than any other region.
• Ministers said 17 bids worth £97.6m were submitted, which was almost four times the amount requested by Yorkshire and Humber.
• The North-East's 11 successful bids were more than the West Midlands, which had eight applications approved, and the South-West and North-West, which each had seven bids sanctioned.
• The first four rounds of the RGF pledged £2.6bn to support 400 projects and programmes and created and safeguarded an estimated 66,000 North-East jobs.
• It has backed a number of regional firms, including PD Ports, scanner maker Kromek, car parts maker Nifco UK and dehumidifier firm Ebac.