Inverness firm Orion Group said yesterday it expected a new office in the north of England to add £10million to its turnover.
Orion, which specialises in engineering recruitment, said the Teesside base – just outside Middlesbrough – would complement one in Newcastle it opened nine years ago.
The expansion comes after one of its clients, Fabricom Offshore Services, asked for Orion to have a presence close to its base in Teesside.
Last month, Orion said its turnover in 2011 was nearly £308million – having increased by 25% on the previous year – and chairman Alan Savage said he wanted the company to break the £360million barrier this year.
Divisional director Phil Patterson said yesterday: “The north-east (of England) business has been growing year-on-year since it opened in Newcastle nine years ago.
“We have always planned to expand the company into Teesside but had to speed things up after one of our biggest clients, Fabricom Offshore Services, encouraged us to become their neighbours. Obviously we were keen to make this happen and after six months of planning we have now moved in.
“Traditionally our focus has been within the oil and gas sector but we want to do more than that here.
“The Teesside team will continue to nurture business in this area, while growing our petrochemical client base.”
Mr Savage said: “Phil has built up a great business in Newcastle which is why we’re keen for him to lead us into Teesside.
“A great deal of our business is down to establishing and maintaining good client relationships and this move proves that our approach works.”
Last month’s results showed Orion’s operating profits in 2011 were up 58% at £8.8million, while pre-tax profits rose 64% to £7.8million. The group has up to 3,500 people in the UK and 1,500 worldwide on assignment at any one time and employs more than 340 staff directly across offices worldwide.