A STEEL company will celebrate its silver anniversary by opening a base in the US.

Amerex is setting up a trading centre in Miami, Florida, in a move that will create ten jobs and push turnover up by a fifth.

The company, based on Newburn Riverside Industrial Estate, has been supported by Lloyds TSB Corporate.

Amerex, which employs 26 staff in steel stockholding, processing and importing, has invested in a new building on their 5.5-acre Tyneside site. The building will accommodate a new processing plant.

Chairman Eddie Halman said: "We have banked with Lloyds TSB since 1979 and they have supported us in our past expansion and investment projects. We also see them as an active partner for the future as the Newburn site develops and we shall be seeking their advice on our next project in Miami."

Ross Halman, son of the Amerex chairman, is a former employee who runs a steel transportation business that works with his father's firm.

He has just completed a profitable first full year of trading with his company, AMX Services.