START-UP consulting engineers Novo55 are bidding to increase interest in their business by offering their services on online auction site eBay.

Co-founders Charles Thompson and Andy Morris put their first 10-day listing on the site last Sunday, offering a “structural survey by qualified civil engineer” under the seller name “novo55atblythcec”.

The offer includes a general structural inspection of a UK house by a chartered civil engineer, and bids start at £50.

Thompson said: “You’d expect to pay upwards of £300 for this service. It would be a general inspection but if someone had a specific requirement we could also talk about that.

“It’s an unusual approach, but a very good way for someone to get a bargain.”

Both Thompson and Morris previously worked for Jacobs Engineering, but were victims of the damage the recession has done to the construction sector.

As a result, they set up Novo55 Consulting in Blyth in January to take advantage of their experience in the public and private sectors, offering advice and design services including project management, planning application advice and transport assessments.

Its skill set centres on areas such as highways, traffic and structural engineering, and it is offering its services to clients from developers to highway authorities, public bodies, contractors and private individuals.

While the pair each have more than 30 years experience in their field, they recognise the current health of the industry has been impacted by the ravages of the downturn and the subsequent Government cuts.

Thompson said: “When the new Government came in, the highways sector was hit very badly.

“I understand over 500,000 construction sector workers have been made redundant in the last 12 months, and a lot of them have been people like quantity surveyors and architects.

“We’re hoping to be able to help people through things such as planning applications, whether they’re small or bigger developments.”