A GROWING car parts company was last night named the Teesside Company of the Year in the region’s biggest and best business awards.

Stockton-based Nifco took the top title in the first heat of the nebusiness awards, beating Middlesbrough pawnbroker chain Ramsdens and Darlington-based pensions administrator rpmi.

It celebrated taking the top prize in the Teesside heat of the nebusiness awards, which are organised by The Journal and Evening Gazette in association with Business & Enterprise North East.

The award is a strong start for a year in which Nifco will push ahead with plans to open a £8m factory which should help to create 90 jobs, despite the loss of a £1m public-sector grant with government spending cuts.

Despite the slump in the motor industry since the recession, which pushed the company to cost-cutting measures including shedding a third of its 240-strong workforce in 2008, Nifco has fought back.

The company has found new customers, seen a recovery in the market and is building back revenues.

It has taken on more than 50 new recruits over the past couple of years and given permanent contracts to scores of contract staff.

Nifco also has sites in Poland and Spain, but has always said its new factory will be built within a few miles of its Yarm Road headquarters.