RYDER Architecture has made a significant investment in its future development with the announcement of 17 new recruits.

The new recruits are filling a variety of roles in design and business support and will be working at all four Ryder offices in London, Glasgow and Liverpool as well as at Newcastle, where the majority will be based.

Managing partner, Mark Thompson, said: "The market continues to be challenging, but the plans we put in place when the credit crunch first hit in 2008 are paying dividends now with the Newcastle teams, where we have the largest headcount, supporting projects throughout the UK - including Aberdeen, Manchester, Coventry, Bristol and Southampton and in the Far East where we have some particularly exciting opportunities."

Some of the regional projects Ryder has picked up recently include the new AkzoNobel paint factory at Ashington, new Pathology Laboratories and Emergency Care Centre at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead, Ashington leisure and community centre , Stockton Academies and the Safe & Sustainable Children's Heart Facility at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle.