BOC chief executive Tony Isaac was in the region yesterday to view the progress being made by the gas company's operations on Teesside.

Mr Isaac spent most of the day at BOC's Teesport site, part of its Process Gas Solutions (PGS) business, before hosting a dinner for its customers, which include Huntsman, Dow, Phillips, Corus, DuPont, and the Atmel microchip plant on North Tyneside.

The visit was the first to Teesside for Mr Isaac since BOC acquired the industrial gases assets of Enron Teesside Operations (ETOL) in June, a deal which added an additional 30 miles of gas pipeline and compressing equipment to BOC's business.

That was the second big deal for BOC on Teesside this year. In March a £30m hydrogen plant, operated by BOC, was opened at the Huntsman's North Tees site.

The plant supplies high purity hydrogen by pipeline to Huntsman's polyurethanes raw materials manufacturing operation at Wilton and its aromatics production complex on the North Tees site.

BOC employs about 80 people at its Teesport operation, a number that will rise as new positions, including a sales manager and pipeline manager, are filled.

Those posts are being created as part of a £150,000 investment in the site, including the refurbishment of offices for the new sales team and improved conferencing facilities.

It will take BOC's investment in the area to between £85m and £90m since 1998, including more than £45m in the past year alone.

Mr Isaac said: "Teesside is now our largest and most important single complex in the UK, supplying nearly 40 per cent of our PGS UK business and, as such, is of vital importance to the future growth of the business. As we build up our customer base, there will be further investment in the site."

He added: "I am currently attempting to meet more of our customers to try and get to know them, and their needs, a little better."