A MOVE to a new business park and an investment of nearly £1m will see a manufacturing company double its workforce and turnover in the next 18 months.

Quality Roofing Systems (QRS), which specialises in conservatory roofs, has become the second business to move to the Queens Meadow Business park in Hartlepool this year.

QRS, which was previously based in Seamer, near Stokesley, North Yorkshire, is planning to double its workforce to 60 within the next 18 months, creating 30 jobs.

The company, which was formed in 1999 by David and Elaine Buttery, had a turnover of £2.6m last year, and is this year expecting to double that figure. It has invested more than £900,000 in the move to its 16,000sq ft premises at Queens Meadow.

The company received a grant from regional development agency One NorthEast to invest in the site.

When Queens Meadow is completed and fully occupied, it is expected to bring 1,500 jobs and attract up to 100 businesses to the town.

Owned by One NorthEast, it covers a 140-acre site next to the A689, south of Hartlepool town centre. About £10m, from a combination of public and private sources, has been invested in developing the site, with further investment planned.

Elaine Buttery, QRS company secretary, said: "We were attracted to Hartlepool because of the quality of the labour force we are now able to draw on, and Queens Meadow is ideal because we needed larger premises to enable us to expand."