Steve Brettle Fabrication Limited, a steel fabrication and welding company, has secured enough work in the petrochemical sector to keep its workforce busy until at least April or May next year.

Northern Construction Solutions have relocated from Sunderland to Lumley Court in Chester-le-Street in order to provide more space for the growing workforce. The business, which was set up by directors Sean Anderson and Dave Gardner in 2002, had a turnover of £6m at the end of March and is likely to exceed £8m by the end of the year. The directors are confident that the company will be turning over £20m within the next 5 years. They currently employ 45 people, an increase of 60% over the last year.

Watson Norie Limited, whose head office is based in Newcastle, has a wide range of clients across the UK and an annual turnover of approximately £28m. The firm was established in 1920, and now has satellite offices in Scunthorpe and Grangemouth.

Opportunities for manufacturers to profit from the move to a low carbon economy were highlighted in a report complied earlier this year by the manufacturers' organisation EEF.

Express Engineering, which operates from Team Valley in Gateshead, is to make parts for Norwegian engineering and construction firm Aker Solutions and American machinery and oil services technology company FMC Technologies.

Around 80 managers and team leaders from firms such as defence and aerospace giant BAE Systems in Newcastle, US manufacturer Caterpillar's Peterlee and Indian pharmaceutical firm Nicholas Piramal's Morpeth plant, have signed up for the eight month long course.