DARLINGTON company North View Engineering is increasing its workforce by a fifth after winning accreditation to expand its business into new sectors.

The business is branching out to provide engineering services to the oil and gas and petrochemical sectors after being granted the International Standards Organisation's (ISO) 9001:2000 award.

The standard will enable the firm to work outside of the construction, process and manufacturing sectors for the first time since its inception in 1953, and will see the addition of ten jobs to its 50-strong workforce.

The internationally-recognised award, which is a requirement to work in the fuel industry, is given in recognition of efforts to maintain high standards, enforce industry regulations and meet customer requirements.

Jonathan Boggon, chairman of North View Engineering, said: "Reaching this standard will allow us to operate in areas that were previously closed to us, due to lack of official accreditation.

"Research shows that companies which achieve the ISO 9001:2000 standard also benefit from improved internal working, increased morale and motivation among employees, and higher levels of customer satisfaction."

Malcolm Potter, manager of the Tees Valley Engineering Partnership, said: "North View Engineering has played a significant role in the Tees Valley engineering sector for more than 50 years and it is fantastic now to see them achieving official and international recognition."