TEN new jobs are to be created in west Suffolk by a Northern Ireland company which has secured work on the Crossrail project in London.

And more business already based within the eastern region are now being urged to seize opportunities resulting from Crossrail, which involves a new rail link between Berkshire and Essex via twin tunnels under the capital and is claimed to be Europe’s biggest current construction project.

Environmental Fabrications, based in Dromore, County Down, is setting up a new workshop factory in Haverhill, where job opportunities are likely to include a number of apprenticeship roles.

The company is supplying and fitting gantry cranes along with additional structural support steel, jetties, access platforms and handrails to sites in east London and Kent to help transport concrete segments that will be used to line the tunnels underneath London.

Crossrail, and its associated supply chain, is expected to generate enough work to support the equivalent of 55,000 full-time jobs.

A number of businesses in eastern England have already secured work but the majority of contracts along the supply chain are yet to be awarded.

Andrew Wolstenholme, Crossrail chief executive, said: “Crossrail is already helping to support jobs in the East of England as businesses have benefitted from work connected to the project.

“Work on Crossrail is set to peak over the next two years, so it’s vital that businesses in the region seize the opportunities that Europe’s largest construction project has to offer. We want to make sure that firms of all sizes from right across the UK know about the business openings that will arise.”

John Dugmore, chief executive of Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, said: “Crossrail is literally a ground breaking national infrastructure project that will not only make a difference to how millions of people travel across London but will make a difference to hundreds of firms who take advantage of being involved in the procurement process.

“This is a real opportunity for the entrepreneurial and hard working spirit we experience every day in our part of the UK to play a part in this national project. Companies in the east have so much to offer and we encourage them to engage in this process to give themselves every chance to be involved.”

Businesses interested in looking for Crossrail work can visit the CompeteFor website at www.competefor.com or the suppliers’ section of the Crossrail webiste at www.crossrail.co.uk .A number of trade associations are also in contact with Crossrail about the opportunities available for the sectors that they represent.