MORE than £2m worth of grants have been secured for firms in the North East in the last three months by accountancy Clive Owen & Co.

The Darlington-based firm’s business planning team, headed by partner Neville Baldry, has helped secure funding for companies working in the utilities, engineering, food and drink and technology industries.

They include Newton Aycliffe-based marine engineering company Tekmar Group, which it helped to win a Grant for Business Investment worth £95,000 to support its growth plans.

The grant has enabled Tekmar to increase the amount of space at its headquarters and invest in more equipment to support further expansion in the renewable energy market.

Tekmar’s original subsea division, set up in 1985, recently expanded into a new manufacturing plant at Faverdale, Darlington, to house its subsea oil and gas work.

Its energy division, formed in 2008 to produce cable protection equipment for offshore wind farms, last year accounted for more than half of the group’s £15m turnover. Since receiving the funding, Tekmar has doubled its workforce from 30 to 60.

Baldry said his team had a fantastic start to the year and he was delighted so many of the firm’s clients, including Tekmar, had been successful with their claims.

“We have supported a wide range of businesses and it’s excellent, not just for them, but to see this money come to the North East as a whole,” he said.

“It’s great to see so much innovation and development at a time when there has been a great deal of uncertainty concerning business growth and stability.”

Phil Heathcock, finance director at The Tekmar Group, added: “We’re delighted that the application was successful. The funding has enabled us to create the additional space and employ the people we need to take the business further.

“The energy market is very topical at the moment and our technology has really opened up opportunities for us in that market.”

Baldry said his team was now steering clients towards the second round of Regional Growth Fund monies, as well as the £125m Finance for Business North East Programme.

The programmes are designed to provide vital investment for businesses across all sectors through to 2014.