The North-East offices of construction services company WSP have shown healthy order book growth so far this year and are continuing to recruit staff.

With the order book standing at just over £3m, a 30 per cent increase on the previous six months, turnover this year is projected to be about £5.4m, with a significant improvement in business performance as a result of restructuring and business process improvement.

John Greenbeck, director of WSP Buildings said: "The North-East offices are performing well ahead of last year, and we're intending to maintain this level of activity throughout the year.

"We're working on projects across all sectors - health, education, residential, commercial, industrial and retail. By providing an integrated service we can bring complex engineering projects in under one management team, which has advantages for clients.

"We are currently recruiting and have made a number of key appointments in the North-East in recent weeks."

WSP Buildings holds a prominent position in the construction services industry in the region working on projects including the MetroCentre extension, in Gateshead, Newcastle Hospitals private finance initiative, Newcastle University's recently completed Environmental Research building, and Marks and Spencer's Simply Foods stores in Kenton and Whitley Bay.

The two North-East offices, in Newcastle and Stockton, offer services including civil and structural engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering, and employ about 160 staff.

Planning, transport and environmental specialist teams are also based in Newcastle.

WSP Group has 25 offices in the UK employing about 1,850 people.

Worldwide the company employs 5,000 people, the order book is valued in excess of £400m, and turnover last year was £283.6m.

The company has been awarded the civil, structural and infrastructure engineering design for Europe's proposed tallest building, London Bridge Tower known as The Shard of Glass.