The company, which produces lithographic printing presses that are used to print on metal, said it aimed to further increase its turnover to between £26m and £27m in 2011.

Mike Jevons, project manager at Crabtree of Gateshead, said: "The increase in turnover is tremendous, and a result of rapid expansion in the Chinese market for the Marquess press and increased demand for our Fastready multicolour lines in Asia, Europe, South Africa and South America.

"It is also due to the pound reducing in value to the dollar, which has made us more competitive in the Chinese market."

The company has 240 staff, a figure which includes 130 employees that it has taken on in the past year. It has also increased its production output from 30 units per year to 90.

Its main markets are Middle East and Latin America, Europe, Africa, India, China and Asia, and 98% of its presses are exported outside of the UK.

Jevons said: "We have also expanded into new facilities at Fencehouses and increased the factory size at Gateshead.

"We're looking for continued improvement of the equipment andkeeping the costs of the equipment down. We're also looking to reduce manufacturing costs by altering workflow."

Crabtree of Gateshead's presses are mainly used to manufacture packaging for products such as bottle tins and biscuit tins.