THE management buyout of a glass and glazing business has led to the restoration of the company's original name.

The takeover of the Darlington branch of Polton Glass Limited by former branch manager Peter Kelly has seen the company revert to the name Elders Walker Glass Limited.

Mr Kelly, 53, plans to expand the company, in McNay Street, and open a new showroom.

Mr Kelly said: "Elders Walker always had a good name for value and expertise and that is why we opted to return to the original name.

"There are 14 people working for the company at the moment and, once the showroom is up and running, we will be taking on some sale staff and window fitters."

Mr Kelly joined the company in 1967 as an apprentice glazier. In the 1980s, it was bought by one of the world's largest manufacturers of glass and glazing products, Pilkington, before being taken over by Polton Glass in 1998.

In recent years, Mr Kelly saw the Darlington branch of Polton Glass taking a different route to the company's head office in Teesside.

"We were concentrating on glass retailing and glazing whereas, at the Middlesbrough site, they were involved in the bulk merchandising, toughening, processing and decoration of glass," he said.

With the help of Neville Baldry, partner at chartered accountants and business advisors Clive Owen and Company, and funding from HSBC bank, Mr Kelly bought the branch.

The company now provides commercial and residential glass and glazing across the region. Joining Mr Kelly on the management team is long-term business colleague, Dorothy Hansom, and his son, Rob, a glazier who joined the company in 1988.