He would not be drawn on the potential sectors for Angel but said they could include areas such as personalised medicine, where treatment is based on an individual’s biology or genes.

Angel originally opened 10 years ago in Cramlington after winning venture capital funding and grants including around £1m from regional development agency One North East.

It moved to Edinburgh in 2007 after winning further funding north of the border but after the recent investments in its mothballed Cramlington site is about to move much of its operation back to the plant, which is around three times the size of its Scottish headquarters.

White said the commissioning of the Northumberland plant is now completed and the site, which currently employs five people, is ready to handle further expansion of the business.

He is keen to grow the business, which expects turnover for the 15 months to the end of this month to be similar to the £3m it saw in the preceding 12 months. The firm made its first profit in 2010 but after investing in Cramlington is unlikely to see another at the end of this year.