A SMALL steel and fabrication company from County Durham has beaten competition from major global rivals to secure three international contracts.

Fab-Tech has won deals to work on the national Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the Sainsbury laboratory at Cambridge University, and a development in Jersey, which together have the potential to be worth more than £250,000.

The Newton Aycliffe company, which employs 14 people, believes the new deals can help it continue to defy the recession, which has crippled many companies in the construction and fabrications sector, and will help it to equal last year’s record performance.

To help keep pace with its contracts, Fab-Tech has invested £65,000 in equipment, and is creating two jobs and an apprenticeship at its base in the town’s Whinbank Road.

Fab-Tech, established in 1992, has previously provided steelwork to major projects, including the Millennium Dome and Canary Wharf, in London, Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium, Sunderland’s Stadium of Light and Newcastle United’s St James’ Park.

Its latest stadium project, in Abu Dhabi – owned by Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan – which will see Fab- Tech work on the hospitality boxes, is on a tight timescale, with the national team due to play City at the venue on November 11.

Ron Carty, managing director of Fab-Tech, said the deals have prestige as well as value, and the Sainsbury Laboratory contract had the potential to be worth “a fortune” to the business.

“Thankfully, things have been pretty good for us and work has been steady. We haven’t really suffered because of the recession, probably because a lot of projects we are working on are committed to way in advance,” he said.

“Last year was a brilliant year, probably our best year as a business, and I think this work will help us turn over about the same as we did last year.

“The last three months were a lot better than the previous quarter, so hopefully that is an indication that things are picking up.

“We are, relatively, quite a small company, and I know we went up against some big companies to get these new deals, so we’re very happy.

“We’re very specialist in what we do, and a lot of our guys have grown up with it.

Quite a few of them started as apprentices, and that’s something we’d like to continue.

“We have a loyal client base and are adding new work quite regularly, so particularly with what’s happening in the world, we are very pleased with how things are going.”