AN engineering company is looking to significantly boost its workforce to take advantage of the opportunities that arise from the North-East’s drive to become a renewable energy hub.

ALM Products, of Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, has invested £500,000 in equipment to take advantage of supplier opportunities in the electric vehicles and renewable energy sectors, as well as more traditional industries such as oil and gas.

As a result, it expects to boost its workforce of 25 by 15 over the next 18 months.

It comes as the region gears up to be a hub for electric vehicles, photovoltaics – solar power – and wind energy.

ALM founder and managing director Tony Thompson saw the need to diversify after the economic downturn affected its traditional sectors, such as construction.

The installation of computer- controlled lathe and milling equipment, as well as some robotics, will allow the factory to work around the clock to keep up with customer demands.

Mr Thompson said: “We have to change and adapt the business. It is about looking at how we can provide this level of service.

“What we are looking at is markets that are continuing to grow or emerging, that is where the biggest opportunities are.

“There is demand for new ‘green’ cars and households and business need clean energy with stable prices. Both these markets are the subject of massive innovation and investment and ALM Products is gearing up to play its part.”

ALM Products was established 15 years ago and turns over £3m a year.

The business has traditionally manufactured fittings for new and refurbished buildings, as well as components for the cubicle system and washroom industry.

Its expansion comes as the North-East aims to turn itself into a hub for the renewable energy sector.

Clipper Windpower is building a £25m green energy factory, which will make the world’s biggest turbine blades, in Newcastle, and The New and Renewable Energy Centre, in Northumberland, is internationally known for its wind turbine-testing facilities.

The Printable Electronics Technology Centre, at Net- Park, in Sedgefield, County Durham, and manufacturers such as glass maker Romag, in Consett, County Durham, are leading the way in technology for photovoltaics. And in July last year, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the region would become the UK’s first low-carbon economic area for low-carbon vehicles.

It followed announcements that the region would take part in the world’s largest trial testing of the day-to-day viability of electric vehicles, and that Nissan’s European Centre of Excellence for battery manufacturing for electric vehicles would sit alongside its Sunderland car factory.

This would make the region a leading contender to construct its Leaf electric car for the European market.