the Chieftain Group has opened an office in the Tees Valley in an effort to attract more customers from the chemical industry.

The Newcastle-based plc has appointed former Aker Kvaernar managing director Malcolm Oliver to run the new division, which is based at The Wilton Centre, at the Teesside chemical site.

Mr Oliver has 25 years' experience in the petrochemical and process industries.

Bill Taylor, chief executive of Chieftain, said: "Malcolm's responsibility is to develop the group's business in the mechanical service sector, allowing our multi-discipline services - from manufacture through to coatings - to be interlocked and offered to the engineering supply chain.

"This is best achieved by the opening of a Teesside base.

"We look forward to this exciting development becoming a major contributor to the group's future."

Initially, the office will employ only four people, but the amount of staff is expected to expand rapidly as the company works with more customers.

The business trades as R Blackett Charlton, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chieftain, and will work with both existing and new customers in the engineering field.

R Blackett Charlton, based in Walker, Newcastle, has a long history of making pipes and providing mechanical services to the Tyneside shipyards and the marine and offshore sectors.

A spokesman for the Chieftain Group said: "There are significant opportunities for them in Teesside.

"It is quite an unusual step for Chieftain to expand into more offices, so it shows the confidence it must have in the potential market in Teesside.

"Teesside has a strong petrochemical industry and they have identified that their products or services can be used just as much by the petrochemicals businesses as they can on the Tyne."