Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276

A growing company is planning dozens of jobs for the Sunderland area as it aims to become the world’s biggest firm in its field.

Washington business Visuna already employs 56 people around the world and 47 of those are based on Wearside.

But the company has a three-year vision to double its workforce and chief executive Ford Garrard praised the hard-working team who have made it all possible.

He said: “We have a 20-year history on Wearside and the majority of our UK team live close to our Washington head office, so it’s important to me that our people are recognised locally for their hard work.”

Visuna has become the latest entry in the Sunderland Echo Business Awards.

Visuna is a leading recruitment provider in the energy and tech fields and it has become the latest entry in the Sunderland Echo Business Excellence Awards.

It helps other companies to find the best talent and used to be a specialist in oil and gas recruitment.

It has diversified and, as well as oil and gas, it now deals with recruiting talented people for businesses which deal with renewable sources of energy.

Mr Garrard welcomed the awards nomination and added: “The business has gone through a huge period of change over the last year, so this recognition is a welcomed milestone on our journey as we navigate the exciting changes in the sector.”

Some of the senior leadership team at Visuna’s Washington office. From L to R: Ford Garrard; Chief Executive Officer, Kelly Walker; Operations Director, David Bolton; Commercial Director, Anthony Dargue; Chief Financial Officer.

As well as jobs, the company has also branched out from its Washington base into more offices in Brisbane, Australia; Saudi Arabia; and Houston Texas.

The nomination added: “There are similar plans to visit Qatar and Guyana in the coming months to build strong foundations in these markets.”

This year’s awards backers include Sunderland City Council, our partners in the competition and the headline sponsors.

Also on board are the North East BIC, Chilli Mangoes, Marelli, Wilf Husband, Harrison and Brown, Gentoo, Sunderland University and Sunderland College.

Ford Garrard; Chief Executive Officer, Kelly Walker; Operations Director, David Bolton; Commercial Director, Anthony Dargue; Chief Financial Officer, pictured at Visuna.

We thank them all for their invaluable support.

Search for Wearside's best firms launched with new-look Sunderland Business Exce...

Now it is over to you. We want the best in Wearside and County Durham industry to enter the awards.

To enter, choose the most appropriate category for your business, and nominate by using the link below.

The Sunderland Echo Business Excellence Awards.

You can nominate your own firm or a company which you think deserves an accolade.

For further information and to enter, visit www.sunderlandbusinessawards.co.uk

Closing date for entries is Friday, September 23. Judging will take place shortly after the closing date and the shortlist will be announced in early October.

The eventual winners will be revealed at a finals night in November.

Before then, though, we need your entries and here are the categories for this year.

The categories:

*SME Business of the Year - (Sponsored by the North East BIC).

*Large Business of the Year - (Sponsored by Chilli Mangoes).

*Best Independent Business.

*Social Enterprise of the Year - (Sponsored by the North East BIC).

*Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Business of the Year.

*Apprentice/Trainee of the Year.

*Sustainable Initiative of the Year - (Sponsored by Marelli)

*Business in the Community Award.

*Employer of the Year.

*Entrepreneur of the Year.

*Lifetime Achievement Award.

*Business of the Year (Sponsored by Sunderland City Council).

Get those entries in and put your company in the running for honours before time runs out.

50 jobs could be on the way as ambitious Washington company Visuna plans expansion