INTERNATIONAL engineering firm Amec runs a number of its divisions in Darlington and is one of the town's biggest employers.

These include its downstream oil and gas division, internal asset management and shared services, which only recently moved to Darlington.

It deals with the accounts and administrative functions of Amec operations across the UK.

Derek Parkin, managing director of the firm's asset management division, believes that the town has everything to offer to civil service departments.

He said: "If you can create a situation where you have closer ties say, for instance, with a department like the Department of Trade and Industry, rather than it being lost in the big city, then that can only be good for a company like ours.

"If you also get big organisations moving into an area, that starts raising questions about facilities and infrastructure and you begin to create a demand that previously was not there.

"Darlington, with its good transport links and its availability of the type of people that we require, has everything we need. It has a good base of craftsmen such as fitters, electricians and joiners and it is a relatively low-cost area."