THE revival of the steel industry on Teesside has provided a major boost for a trainer who set up in business after breaking his back 10 years ago.

Tom Booth was badly injured in a motorbike accident and still has to return to hospital for treatment every three to four months. But despite being registered disabled, he moved from his previous job as forklift truck examiner to starting his own business TB Training Services.

Additional work means the firm, based in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, has moved into new premises on the Skelton Industrial Estate and now has a staff of three.

And he is planning to open a second training centre on Tyneside within the next couple of years to teach forklift and cherry picker truck driving, warehousing skills, manual handling and health and safety.

The business has just won a major contract to train staff for SSI, which is now recruiting people to work in Redcar at the former Teesside Cast Products (TCP), which is due to reopen in December.

Booth said: “I’m doing all the forklift training and cherry picker training.

“It’s a big one. They are saying there’s about 300 forklift and 400 cherry pickers to train. It means I can employ somebody on a more permanent basis. It’s given me the opportunity to expand the business.”