A NORTH-EAST construction company which began as a modest family-run firm has secured £17m worth of orders.

Established in Rushyford, County Durham, in 1974 by brothers Neville and Stephen Hall, building and civil engineering company Hall Construction has won several major contracts in just a few weeks.

In the Newcastle area, it has won a £4.5m deal to carry out the construction of the infrastructure, highways and main drainage works at Newcastle Great Park for house builders Bryant and Persimmon.

It has also gained a £m contract for the enabling work at the new Sage headquarters.

A £280,000 remediation project for Newcastle City Council, at Byker City Farm, is also in the bag, while work on a £350,000 access road for Hambleton District Council, at Stokesley Industrial Park, is due to start shortly

The firm has also succeeded in winning contracts with two other North-East local authorities.

One is for a civic amenities facility for Hartlepool Borough Council and the second for the dualling of Concorde Way for Stockton Borough Council, with a combined value of £2.2m.

Further afield and in a joint venture with Edmund Nuttall, Halls has secured more than £9m of reclamation works for Bridgend County Council, at Maesteg, in South Wales.

A smaller contract in Leicestershire will also get under way this month.

The healthy order book follows in the wake of Hall's recent commercial hat-trick which saw the firm put three stadium contracts in the back of the net.

Darlington, Cambridge United and Shrewsbury football clubs have each appointed Hall to deliver modern grounds for their teams and supporters.

Gary Hutchinson, Hall Construction's commercial director said: "As a company, we have made phenomenal strides forward in stadia building and we cannot wait to see the new grounds, with the fantastic facilities being used and enjoyed by people.

Mr Hutchinson also expressed his delight at the firm's securing of such a major portfolio of work throughout the country.

Although he could not specify details of the number of jobs which would be created, he confirmed there would be some new appointments.