A COMPANY that casts an aerial eye over industrial sites has been heralded as the 1,000th private sector business from Stockton to register with Companies House last year.

Figures published by Tees Valley Unlimited show that total is up from 822 newly registered businesses in 2014.

Stockton Borough Council provides a range of specialist services to start-up companies, including employment and skills support, help to find the right premises and information about business loans, awards and networking opportunities.

One of the new start-ups is technology business RectrixAS, which uses unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), also known as drones, to provide asset integrity inspection and surveying solutions for a wide range of sectors including oil and gas, petrochemical and renewables such as wind and solar.

The company, founded by Alex Westwood and Chris Young, started life at Durham Road Industrial Estate but moved to Fusion Hive on Stockton’s Northshore in November.

Mr Young, business development manager at RectrixAS, said: “The support so far has been fantastic and now we are based in Fusion Hive the opportunities for us to work with other tech and digital companies means we are able to network effectively and grow and expand.

"We are looking forward to develop our business in the coming months to provide more of our UAV services to a range of companies and to spread the word about the advantages UAVs bring. One area we will also be targeting is the introduction of these technologies to blue light services across the UK.”

For business support and advice, contact the council's business and enterprise team on 01642 528384 or email business.enquiries@stockton.gov.uk.