Kier Property will now deliver a master plan to transform the 34-acre site which will become home advanced manufacturing companies specialising in the offshore industry.

North Tyneside Council has already been successful in securing £13.8m of funding from the European Regional Development Fund, the Homes and Communities Agency and the Local Enterprise Partnership Growing Places Fund.

This will fund infrastructure improvements which have already begun on the site to provide utilities, access improvements, quay edge improvements and dredging to allow for larger vessels to berth.

Kier Group chief executive Paul Sheffield said: “We’re delighted to have been selected to regenerate this iconic site. It has great potential to breathe new life into the area by attracting high-tech businesses, inward investment and creating new jobs.

“The new development will be of particular interest to advanced manufacturing companies that specialise in off-shore activity due to the great location of the site and purpose-built high-spec units.”