Teesside stainless steel specialist Paralloy Group, which next week receives a King’s Award for Enterprise, has bought the major French company Manoir Industries As part of the purchase the company has also acquired Hi-Tech Fabrication, based in Burton in Derbyshire.

Manoir was established in the Normandy region of France more than 100 years ago. It employs 440 people and its latest annual turnover was more than £72m. Hi-Tech Fabrication began trading in 1999 as a small fabrication shop but has grown significantly.

It now has customers in more than 30 countries and 60 staff. There will be no redundancies at either business. Like its new parent company, both of the acquisitions design and produce complex metal parts for a number of industries including defence, nuclear and petrochemical.

Paralloy Group CEO Robert McGowan said: “This merger allows us to initiate a new dynamic of investments, growth, and value creation together, to the benefit of both our organisations and their employees.”

He added: “By combining our strengths and capabilities, we offer the global market a much stronger solutions provider to meet the needs of rapidly growing industrial markets. Our clients will thus benefit from an unmatched choice of solutions for reducing their carbon footprint and optimising their efficiency.”

Although it has been in business for nearly 60 years, Paralloy has been transformed since a management buyout in 2020. Revenue has increased three-fold, the workforce has more than doubled to around 530 and the company has spent millions of pounds on new equipment, infrastructure and Research and Development.

Within the past four years - as well as the deal for Manoir and Hi-Tech Fabrication – the group has expanded from its original operations in Billingham and Sheffield, acquiring four new sites in Middlesbrough, Billingham and Sheffield.

Around 90 per cent of its work comes from overseas customers, including one of the biggest orders in the company’s history - providing key components for the new $6 billion Ras Laffan petrochemical complex in Qatar. Despite its success in international trade Paralloy also has eyes on domestic markets.

Further growth will require additional space and staff and the business is looking at a number of ways – including opening its own training academy – to overcome the skills shortage. Although the King’s Award for Enterprise is the Paralloy Group’s highest honour to date, its achievements have already been widely recognised.

Its most recent award – the fourth in less than six months – was for the success of its Business Growth and Strategy at the Make UK Manufacturing Awards which took place at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Paralloy will receive its King’s Award at a ceremony on Tuesday.