IN amongst the inevitable bad news, it is important to highlight the positives, and today’s front page is a good example.

A decade ago, Nifco UK was on the brink of collapse. Today it will announce the biggest deal in its history as it consolidates its position as one of the region’s great success stories.

Against competition from all over the world, the company – based at Eaglescliffe, near Stockton – has won a landmark 10-year contract from Ford to make a million parts a year for low-emission engines.

It is important work, from both an environmental and economic perspective, and we should be proud that it has come to the North- East.

In the run-up to the last general election, David Cameron made it clear that the North-East would need to rebalance its economy because it was over-reliant on the public sector.

The challenge was to attract private sector investment while enduring deep austerity measures.

Since then, County Durham has become home to the Hitachi train-building factory which will create thousands of jobs. It has the potential to become another North-East employer to rival the flagship role which has been played by Nissan.

Today’s announcement at Nifco is further proof that the North-East has the skills and the infrastructure to compete with the best in the world. The 50 extra jobs which will be created at Nifco may be relatively small in comparison to Hitachi, but it is the quality of the contract which makes it so significant.

Under the enlightened yet down to earth guidance of Darlington-born Mike Matthews, Nifco has been a growing success story for the past few years, and the Ford deal creates another exciting chapter.

To Mr Matthews and his world-class workforce, we simply wish to say well done.