THE owner of a North-East industrial coatings firm says offshore energy work in the North Sea has bolstered its progress.

The John Wood Group, which took over Gateshead-based Pyeroy, provides engineering and construction management for oil, gas and renewable energy projects.

Bosses said its production services (PSN) division benefited from North Sea contracts and work on US shale projects, with engineering work helped by subsea deals in Europe, the Middle-East and Africa.

However, they warned its work on turbines is behind.

The update covers a six-month period to June 30.

A statement said: “Performance is ahead of expectations in PSN, and in line with expectations in engineering.

“Growth in PSN has been led by performance in the Americas, principally in US shale regions, and underlying performance in the North Sea also remains strong.

“We are benefitting from significant contract renewals secured over the last 18 months.

“However, we are behind expectations in turbine activities, which includes the impact of deferrals and slower activity in certain areas.”

The firm last year agreed a deal to work with Siemens to support the power generation, oil and gas and industrial sectors.

The agreement combines Wood Group's GTS maintenance and power solutions division and Siemens' turbo care unit, which provides after-market gas turbine, steam turbine and generator design, repair and manufacturing services.

Pyeroy was founded 40 years ago to maintain ships in the region's famous yards.

It previously applied protective paint to the forward navigation bridge for the Royal Navy's new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth.