AN engineering business which started out in the spare bedroom of its founder’s Teesside home is set to become a £2m company by the end of the year.

International Procurement Limited (IPL) has grown consistently since its inception in 2005.

From being a one-man operation based in managing director Colin Wilson’s home, it now supplies and distributes custom-made valves and pump technologies for blue chip companies including BP, British Energy and npower.

Significant in the Stocktonbased company’s growth have been a £1m contract with Drax Power, which operates the UK’s biggest coal-fired power station in Selby, North Yorkshire, and a £300,000 deal with Total.

The company has also struck a deal with SMC Corporation, one of the UK’s largest manufacturers of pneumatic automation products, to distribute its equipment in the North-East.

The contract will be worth £500,000 in the first year, with further work to follow.

Now, IPL operates from its own 8,300sq ft site on Stockton’s Portrack Industrial Estate, and employs six people, with plans to recruit more in the near future.

It is also looking to bring the manufacture of some components in-house instead of outsourcing, in a move which would create further jobs.

Mr Wilson, who set up the business in 2004 and worked part-time for another company while it got off the ground, said turnover could hit £2m this year through supplying its range of intricately-made valves, which can each weigh several tonnes.

He added: “The business has grown steadily since it was set up, and progress has been quite significant.

“I was only working in the spare room for four or five months before we had to expand into other premises, and now we’ve been able to buy our own building.

“We’ve put a lot of investment into our new premises and the equipment, so we are ready for the future.”

“The aim for this year was to hit £2m, and despite what is happening in the rest of the world, we seem to be on course for that.

“We are doing a lot of work at the minute and are very proud of what we do.

“We might get a call from a company which needs a valve or a gearbox urgently – we can supply it within hours and deliver it to them.”

IPL’s new premises were opened two weeks ago by Councillor Ken Lupton, leader of Stockton Borough Council, which provided the company with a £5,000 grant for new equipment.