A MANUFACTURER of high- performance coatings has signed a seven-figure contract with Northumbrian Water.

E Wood Ltd, based in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, expects the deal to significantly boost company turnover and open up its world-patented product to the European market.

The firm is supplying a special coating that Northumbrian Water is using to reline many of its water pipes across the region.The utility company said the product, which is called Hycote 169 and based on polyurethane technology, has more than halved the time it needs to cut off the supply of water to households when carrying out maintenance work.

A spokesperson for Northumbrian Water said: "It benefits us and our customers because it is quick drying. So whereas before we might have had to turn off the water supply to customers for about 30 hours, that time has now more than halved."

E Wood's managing director Chris McDonnell said the contract win will take the company's turnover to about £25m this year, up from £22m last year.

Mr McDonnell said: "This is a major contract for us as Northumbrian Water is a very important company in the region and we are hoping that its link with French water company Lyonnaise will take us into Europe."

E Wood was initially formed in 1882 in the dockland area of London as a family-run company manufacturing marine paints. In 1940, it moved to Hertfordshire and was bought out in 1984.

Mr McDonnell joined the company in the same year and turned the company around by closing low-tech, low-margin arms of the business and focusing on high-tech manufacturing.

In 1987, the company moved to Northallerton and a year later it underwent a management buyout.

Its workforce has increased from 21 to 150 and has several divisions, including Thorex, Copon Pipelinings, and ThistleBond, which supplies repair products to the marine industry.

Its Thorex division recently announced a contract, which may be worth up to £1m, to transport emergency repair materials to New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The materials include water-based and solvent-free waterproofing, to repair damaged commercial and industrial buildings, and the Superdome, which became a temporary home for thousands of people.