A LANDSCAPING company, which counts Sunderland AFC and Newcastle United among its clients, is building a new headquarters and expects to recruit 25 staff as part of expansion plans.

Sustain Landscapes Ltd supplies local authorities and major construction companies amongst but the award-winning firm has outgrown its base near Consett, County Durham. It hopes to be in its new premises on a two-acre site at Delves Lane Industrial Estate by mid-summer.

UK Steel Enterprise, the Tata Steel business-support subsidiary, provided an investment package of £135,000, made up of a £75,000 secured loan and a grant of £60,000 from its Access to Finance Scheme backed by the government’s Regional Growth Fund.

Now, Sustain Landscapes expects its turnover to hit the £3m mark within the next two years and add at least 25 jobs to its team of 15.

Set up by Joe Zazzetta, a Scotsman with more than 30 years of experience in landscaping who settled in the North-East 10 years ago, the company now has three divisions covering landscape construction, grounds maintenance and sports sectors. The provision and maintenance of artificial turf pitches is a big growth area and customers include both of the region's Premier League football clubs.

A growing list of clients includes schools, colleges, hospitals, universities, local authorities and parish councils across the North-East with large commercial landscaping projects being carried out with major contractors including Balfour Beatty, Bam Construction and Kier Construction. The company won a BALI National Landscaping Award in 2014 for its landscaping project at Harton Quay in South Shields.

“We have been held back from expanding simply because we didn’t have enough space,” said Mr Zazzetta. “We were delighted when UK Steel Enterprise came on board and the grant element is a particularly welcome part of the package. I was finding it impossible to get finance for a new build project rather than moving into an existing building but we need very specific facilities and room for future expansion too.”

The new premises will provide offices, a warehouse, space for recycling green waste, wash bays, a yard and storage for equipment.

“The company started out in a portacabin and this is a big project for us but being in the new building will give us huge potential for growth,” said Mr Zazzetta, who is already advertising for an experienced landscape foreperson and expects his team to grow fast. “We have been bursting at the seams for some time and, in fact, the company joke is that fitting all the equipment on to our site is like a game of Jenga.”

Sarah Thorpe of investor UK Steel Enterprise, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, said: “Sustain Landscapes is a well -established company with considerable expertise, a sound financial base and strong management team. Its potential to grow and create jobs in Derwentside was being held back and we were happy to provide the investment that has meant this project could go ahead.”