AN engineering business celebrating its silver anniversary said it would recruit more staff, if it could find people with the required skills.

In 25 years, family-run Industrial and Marine Hydraulics, based in Snowdon Road, Middlesbrough, has grown from a two-man operation to a business employing 28 people with a £2m turnover.

Its main businesses are servicing hydraulic equipment, as well as designing, installing and commissioning systems, with staff working as far afield as Korea, US, Russia and China.

And, despite the global downturn, directors Paul Griffiths and Mike Jeffers, who met as apprentice fitters at Dorman Long, now Corus, said they would take on more staff if they could find them.

Mr Jeffers said: “We are not a hirer and firer and do not take contractors on and lay them off, as some companies do.

“But the correct skilled labour in our industry is hard to find and we continue in our longstanding commitment to training. If we could get the right labour now, we could take people on.”

The company has recently taken on two apprentices and works closely with Middlesbrough- based charity the TTE Technical Training Group, the UK’s leading technical training provider to the oil and gas, process, manufacturing and engineering sectors, “If we don’t invest in training, the company closes,” said Mr Jeffers.

Over the years, the company has built up an impressive client list.

Local clients include Corus, PD Ports and CTC Marine Projects, while internationally it carries out work for Bosch Rexroth, Siemens VAI and the Ministry of Defence, as well as marine companies such as MacGregor Group, Stena Line and Subsea 7.

Mr Jeffers said: “Much of our work comes in by word of mouth among our customers and their consultants and we have many longstanding, regular clients.

“These long-term customer relationships, plus healthy arrangements with key suppliers, have kept us going.”

Mr Griffiths added: “It’s a team effort and it’s a tough market place at the moment, but we’re doing very well and keeping busy.

“Profits are consistently fed back into the company and our balance sheet is very strong, giving further confidence to our employees and customers.

“Quality is also paramount and all our staff understand and achieve the company expectations.

“Despite our successes, we’ve been through some hard times, but we’re like a family and we all come through together.”

Mr Griffiths started the firm in 1983 with his wife, Teresa, who is also a director, and when business started to take off, they brought in Mr Jeffers.