A steel fabrication firm which moved to the former Rowecord site in Newport a year ago has said it is committed to the city and is even thinking of expanding in Newport in the future.

Michael Treacey, CEO of AIC Steel, told Business Argus that one of the reasons they were so pleased with their first year in Newport was down to the workforce they have employed.

Mr Treacey said: "We have some very good quality, highly-skilled employees now. The labour force here in Newport had been excellent and that was one of the things which attracted us to the city in the first place."

Mr Treacey said: "We now have 118 people employed here with 25 of them joining us since Christmas. We are recruiting every week and expect to have another 20 or 30 staff soon. This is all across the business."

AIC Steel is the British arm of a family-owned steel company based in the Middle East. Since opening in Newport in March 2014 it has been awarded a number of industry accreditations and has also undertaken a number of high profile contracts, including one for Bristol City football club for work at its Ashton Gate stadium.

Mr Treacey said: "It is the quality of our workforce which has enabled us to win contracts like the one from Bristol City."

He said: "We want to be seen as a good place to work and we want our staff to feel that they are part of something really big. We are looking to keep growing. We plan to stay in Newport. We are very keen on this area."

The firm has already invested about £12m in the Newport venture and has plans to become market leader in the UK within the next few years.

Mr Treacey said his business was keen to engage with local schools by offering pupils the opportunity of gaining work experience at the site to find out the sorts of roles involved in such a business - from design engineers to fabricators and welders.

He said: "We have achieved an awful lot in our first year. We have been very well received by the market and are aiming for a £20m turnover in our second year.

"Our parent company is hugely supportive but we are autonomous. This is certainly not a vanity project. We entered this to be a big business and and we have been bedding down this year. We want to make sure we go about our business in the AIC way."