A YORK-BASED rail consultancy firm, whose turnover has soared in a year to £5 million, announced today that it now expects to grow by a further £1 million per year.

The new northern branch of Birmingham-based Owen Williams Railways, which employs 70 staff, has already consolidated its share of two ten-year contracts with Network Rail, totalling £40 million.

Now the operation, based in Holgate Park, York, and responsible for examination and assessment of the rail structures in the London North Eastern region from Kings Cross to Edinburgh, is pitching for two more multi-million pound rail contracts.

Craig Ellis, who with Mick Johnson is the York venture's leading contract manager, disclosed today that interviews have already taken place with 14 people to service the contracts should they win the tenders.

"We have already taken on two and expect to hear the outcome of tendering in about a month's time," he said.

Should the contracts be won the York operation will be on target to expand its turnover at the rate of £1 million per year, he said, pointing out that it was likely that the business might have to relocate to larger premises in York over the next year.

The rapid rise of York's Owen Williams Railways has meant that the two men are also pitching for the title of Growth Business of the Year in the 2004 Evening Press Business Awards.

The company had only three months to set up its York outpost in order to start work on the Network Rail inspections contract from April 2003 - examining railway bridges, viaducts, tunnels, culverts, equipment and depot structures as well as stations and coastal defences.

With the help of Business Link York and North Yorkshire, the northern HQ was established in Holgate Park and Mr Johnson picked his management team.

A big problem was a shortage of qualified structural examiners on the market.

While Owen Williams was able to acquire a number of staff from Network Rail's previous supplier, more would be needed in the future to handle the workload.

The company immediately launched a recruitment drive among local school leavers on a rolling programme of in-house training by qualified examiners.

One expanding area, said Mr Ellis, was the firm's specialist "roped access" facility - that is qualified engineers on the end of an abseil rope.

"We can cost-effectively access large structures and buildings, saving money on costly and time-consuming scaffolding.

"We also have an in-house trainer who will shortly be qualified in coaching people to abseil and do the jobs for themselves," he said.

Updated: 09:49 Thursday, August 26, 2004