Wilton Engineering has secured a strong order book with projects worth a combined £20m after returning the business to profit.

The contract wins, in the energy and defence sectors, together with long-term agreements for use of its facilities on its Haverton Hill Offshore Base, follow the company achieving positive results for its financial year ending June 2022.

Wilton Engineering, which operates from a 112-acre site on the banks of the River Tees within the Teesside Freeport zone, has seen profits increase in line with the increase in turnover which has resulted in overhead reduction.

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The growth can be attributed to a greater proportion of its work, which involves the design, manufacture, blasting and painting of large modular complex steel structures, being delivered for the Offshore Oil and Gas and UK defence industries.

These contracts, along with the future Offshore Floating Wind projects provide the foundations for more sustainable business planning and investment.

This has been supported by further diversification within its income streams, utilising the 58-acres of the Haverton Hill Offshore Base it acquired in 2021, which is adjacent to its original facility at Port Clarence, to provide operational bases and storage for a range of companies including housing a sizeable hydrogen plant, which will contribute to Teesside’s Net Zero ambitions.

This mix of diverse activities has enabled Wilton Engineering to focus on succession planning within its workforce, which has also seen strong growth, increasing the workforce 120% in the last 12 months.

As part of its workforce development, Wilton has launched an in-house Apprenticeship Academy, which is supporting an initial group of 30 trainees. These include 25 trade apprentices to support its fabrication activities, but also degree level design, accounting and trainee project controls engineer apprenticeships.

It is the aim of the company to recruit a cohort of 20 apprentices each year, which will hopefully see at any one time, 80 apprentices making their mark in industry as they flow through the academy system.

Bill Scott OBE, chief executive of Wilton Engineering, said: “In common with businesses in all industries, the last few years have been particularly challenging, however we have dug in, maintained our focus on quality, safety and setting high industry benchmarks, which has enabled the business to secure new work, which continues into our current financial year.

“The return to profit is helping us to invest and plan a more sustainable business for the future. Our legacy for delivering large scale, complicated structures within industry has led to Wilton becoming an established and trusted supplier, often muted by our clients as ‘best in class’, which is testament to our hardworking and skilful workforce, supported by a dedicated and capable management team.

“We also remain an important member of the energy sector supply chain and note the increase in oil & gas activity as well as the potential for UK suppliers for the emerging floating offshore wind market that we have the capabilities and facilities to support.”

Bill added: “We are very positive about the future, having a strong order book ahead of us is allowing us to increase furthermore our employment both on the workshop floor and management alike, along with the pace of our succession activities with more apprentices and a dedicated training academy."

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