A SUBSTANTIAL number of jobs will be created following a Teesside engineering firm's purchase of a Scottish company.

Driven by the buoyant oil and gas sector, Wilton Engineering Services' purchase of Project Design and Management Services (PD&MS) in Aberdeen means the workforce has grown from 50 to 250 in four years.

The company did not reveal the cost of the deal yesterday, but it is expected to increase its turnover from about £17m to more than £30m.

PD&MS provides design engineering services, while fabrication firm Wilton offers manufacturing and specialist coating facilities in the offshore oil and gas, petrochemical, marine and energy markets in the UK.

The deal will mean that the company can bid for bigger international contracts for its 50- acre Port Clarence yard and offer a "turnkey" service from design to finished products.

Director Bill Scott said there would be "a good number of jobs to come from it".

Mr Scott said: "We are thinking in the long term, the overall strategy is to grow the business.

"Because PD&MS has the link to ourselves on Teesside, they will be able to tender for larger projects, meaning larger amounts of work coming to Teesside.

"They can now go to their clients and offer a full turnkey process from design through to procurement, manufacture, coating and installation.

"It is a very exciting time for the Wilton Group. It is good news for our workforce and good news for future jobs."

The group began as a steel fabricator 12 years ago but has seen rapid growth in the past four years.

Mr Scott said: "It is due to sitting down, identifying the buoyancy of the market, putting that into a specialist business plan, setting the ground rules and carrying out that business plan right through to the end.

"Part of that was to procure a larger facility which we did when we bought the former Swan Hunter shipyard, in Port Clarence."

Wilton Engineering chairman David Soley said the deal would "transform the company and our position within the UK marketplace".

He said: "With the complementary skills of PD&MS added to our already strong reputation within the industry, we automatically grow our customer base, but importantly face the market now as a truly turnkey provider.

"This will allow us to move into new markets and seek new clients both at a domestic and international level."

The enlarged group - comprising Wilton Engineering Services, Wilton Marine Services, Universal Coatings and Services, and PD&MS will continue to operate and service the needs of their existing customers from their current locations.

As part of the transaction, the directors of PD&MS will join the enlarged board at Wilton as active shareholders, as well as keeping their position on the board of PD&MS. The deal was brokered by accountants Clive Owen & Co LLP, funded by The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

North-East law firm Dickinson Dees provided legal advice.

Mark Burton, director of corporate banking at RBS in said: "Wilton Engineering is already a successful business in the UK offshore oil and gas sector.

"The acquisition of PD&MS and its complimentary skillbase now provides the company with additional revenue streams which opens up a number of business opportunities for the enlarged group to exploit."

Angus Allan, corporate finance partner at Clive Owen & Co LLP, said: "This deal has brought together two highly successful businesses that each have a strong and capable management team. Given the buoyancy of the oil and gas sector, I fully expect the new group to expand rapidly which will lead to the creation of further jobs in Aberdeen and the Tees Valley."

In January last year, Wilton won a multi-million pound contract to supply rig caissons and pipework to North Sea oil rigs.

In September last year, the biggest barge to travel up the River Tees, at 200 metres long and 50 metres wide, arrived to transport the caissons.