Norfolk double glazing firm Uniglaze has taken on extra staff to meet a major surge in orders, just a year after it was on the brink of going into administration.

The company says that orders have risen by 35pc since late spring and, as a result, it has taken on 18 new production line workers and a senior maintenance engineer.

Managing director Philip Davis said: 'There is normally an increase in orders at this time of year, primarily because schools, colleges and universities do building work when the students are not there during the holiday period. But we have found that the increase in orders has been significantly bigger than expected and there are a number of additional reasons for that in our case. We have found old customers are returning to us and that we are also attracting new customers.'

Uniglaze, based in New Costessey, says it is attracting work across all sectors and is making units for the commercial sector, housing stock and conservatory suppliers.

In addition to the 35pc increase in the last few weeks, orders are also up by 10pc year on year. 'We are also confident that the increase in orders will be sustained to the end of November or beyond and that is why we have been able to take on the additional staff because the upturn looks like it will continue for us,' added Mr Davis.

It is a remarkable turnaround for Uniglaze, which in the spring of 2011 was a fortnight away from going into administration.