The deadline for bids from potential new owners of Cleveland Bridge passed at midnight - and The Northern Echo can reveal there are TWO offers on the table.
The Echo understands that there have been a number of companies and investors from across the world who have said they might be willing to take on all or some of the iconic firm’s debts and reputation.
Now that has been whittled down to just two that the administrators believe give the best chance of the Cleveland Bridge site being saved, and many of the workers keeping their jobs.

After such a tumultuous period, everyone involved knows there are no guarantees here - the site could have been sold for development and the assets could have gone abroad - but sheer hard work and determination seem to have found two chances of a sustainable future.
The team of administrators will now put every single detail of each bid under the microscope, from the amount of money on the table to the number of workers each bid needs and the strategy the potential new owners have for survival and then growth at this North East giant of manufacturing.
So the next few days should reveal the future of the site 27 days after the shocking news  that the company was heading into administration after almost 150 years of manufacturing.

Read more: First redundancies announced

There have been almost daily rumours and theories about what will happen next.
Now, after 53 redundancies, most of the remaining production staff have been working flat out and they have each played a key role  in getting down to those final  bids.
As companies around the world started their own due diligence on this North East giant, being able to see a willing workforce producing once again was hugely important.
It also meant that financially the contracts that the company had said it would fulfil could be completed and goodwill restored.
At one stage it seemed like the future was too bleak. Workers told The Echo they had been asked to clear their desks at very short notice - an illustration of how suddenly everything had changed.
Then administrators revealed  that Covid was being blamed for disrupting so many projects and holding up payments.
Just a few days later things were looking worse, with no reports of specific bids and workers getting increasingly pessimistic. 

Read more: Workers head back to factory
Then there was movement. Managing Director Chris Droogan left the business and the axe fell on 53 staff, mainly in admin, followed by the  recall of those highly-skilled production teams and the lights were turned on again.
Martyn Pullin, Partner at FRP and Joint Administrator of Cleveland Bridge UK, told us: “Restarting production is an important milestone for us as we look to secure the future of the business and supports our ongoing talks with interested parties.”
The Northern Echo understands that there were around two months of guaranteed work from existing projects and then several months after that of work that was in the pipeline when the crisis hit and that could be confirmed now that the factory is seen to be a working proposition again.
Now it looks as if the bridge that we all wanted to see - from despair to hope - may be being built on Yarm Road.