CONSTRUCTION company the MMP Group has clinched work worth more than £1m in one week.

The seven contracts will see Newton Aycliffe-based MMP work with contractors on restoration and new-build projects across the North-East.

The work has been won by MMP's Finishings division and is on projects from Tyneside to Middlesbrough.

The largest of is a drylining project working with main contractor Clugstons worth £400,000, which will see work taking place at the Bunnyhill Community Centre in Sunderland.

JR Properties has also hired MMP to render a project on 34 new apartments in Middlesbrough, worth £300,000.

Paul Sweeney, head of MMP's finishing division, said: "This is the second time in less than six months that MMP has secured a project with JR Properties and we will look to build on this relationship to secure further projects."

Other projects include a £140,000 contract with Mansell on Derwent Court Nursing home, Spennymoor, and a £100,000 project with Mowlems on the Metro Business Park, in Gateshead.

MMP has teamed up with Mowlems before, to work on projects including St James' Park and Durham Prison. The group is working on contracts in South Tyneside and Newcastle hospitals.

A few weeks ago the MMP Group announced it had won its biggest contract to date, to build a £6m residential development in Middlesbrough,

It has been winning more construction contracts because of its pioneering work in off-site construction, which involves building modules in its factory, then transporting them to site and slotting them together to build blocks of flats or commercial developments.

It also makes light steel frames in its factory which are put together on site and then cladded, cutting down on time and waste.

The Middlesbrough development will comprise three apartment blocks with 66 two-bedroomed units, three semi-detached houses and the refurbishment of a lodge on the site.

MMP is now a major provider in the Northern construction market, concentrating on individual construction projects, finishing projects to a value of £3m and joinery to £500,000.

MMP's steel frame division Metek is part of two building consortia that have reached the final of a Government competition to build a house for £60,000. If one of the two win the contest, 30 jobs will be created at Metek.