HEALTH and safety training company Northern Safety has invested £500,000 in a new training centre, and said the facility will be crucial in its plans to push turnover through the £1m barrier within the next 18 months.

The move to a purpose-built facility on the Teesside Industrial Estate, in Thornaby, near Stockton, comes as the company said it was looking at expanding the business and making acquisitions within the health and safety market.

Northern Safety, which has a turnover of £850,000 and employs 15 staff on Teesside and a team of self-employed consultants across the UK, has already begun expanding its plant training operations through a joint association with UK-wide crane company Sarens.

The agreement will see Northern Safety use Sarens' headquarters at Riverside Park, Middlesbrough, to provide training in crane operations for Sarens' staff and those of its competitors.

Ian Shotliff, Northern Safety's business manager, said the company was on the look-out for growth opportunities, after already seeing staff and turnover more than double since 2003.

"We anticipate overall turn-over will exceed £1m within the next 12 to 18 months as a result of the new centre," he said.

"We are structured to take advantage of any acquisition opportunity that comes along, but we wish to remain a family business-style company and are looking for like-minded, small to medium-sized companies whose services and customer base complement our own."

Prior to the move to Thornaby, Northern Safety was based on a split-site at Queensway, on the East Middlesbrough Industrial Estate, with staff divided between an office in Queensway House and a training centre 200 yards away. It also had a small training centre at Carrington, Manchester.