AERIAL lift maker Tanfield has seen its sales continue to rise and said it expects its finances to return to the black next year.

The Washington company had seen revenues and earnings slide since the recession began in 2008 but is continuing the revival it saw in the second half of last year and its brokers forecast full-year revenues will rise from £48.3m for 2011/12 to more than £60m.

It is continuing to find sales replacing the cherry pickers it sold a few years ago and saw its order book treble to £20.9m last year but its chief executive said yesterday that he did not expect to win fresh customers until the construction sector revived in the coming years.

It posted revenues of £24.3m for the six-months to the end of June £24.3m, following an increase in the previous half year. And it announced a continuing reduction in operating losses to £7m in the first half and the company said it hopes to see its first break-even month for years in October.

Chief executive Darren Kell said: “After a long and bitter recession we have turned the corner. Next month will be our best month of the year. Customers just stopped buying in the recession but that has started to come back, although it is mainly from customers who delayed replacing machines and are having to do so now.

“There are signs of recovery but we have to wait for a recovery in the construction sector around the world and that will be some years.”