Workington is in line for a jobs boost, thanks to millions of pounds of new business and possible investment.

Leading UK safety products company Arco is set to open a distribution centre at Lillyhall after winning an £11 million contract to provide personal protective equipment to Sellafield. It will employ up to 10 people.

In a separate deal, West Cumberland Engineering, based on Joseph Noble Road, has secured £8 million worth of work for Sellafield, which will lead to extra jobs.

Sean Churchill, Arco’s regional sales manager for the north of England, said: “We’re delighted to have this opportunity to extend our longstanding relationship with Sellafield.

“We are looking forward to working with Sellafield as we create a new supply chain infrastructure in West Cumbria.”

He added that recruitment would begin soon.

Graeme Phillips, managing director at West Cumberland Engineering said its latest Sellafield work, to create vessels and tanks for use in process plants, would help secure the future of the company and create an as yet unknown number of jobs over the next 10 years.

He said: “It allows us to progress some development plans for the company. Ultimately that will lead to future employment in the area because we will need more people.

“It reflects a lot of hard work that goes in by all the people of West Cumberland Engineering to deliver the quality that Sellafield requires.”

The news of the contracts came as Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership submitted a bid for £165m of investment across the county.

If approved, that plan would include work to enable further employment site development and supply chain investment at Lillyhall North.

Allerdale council is already working on a separate plan to buy 68 acres of undeveloped land at Lillyhall and turn it into West Cumbria’s top business park.

The town could also see more employment sites created around the Port of Workington with rail links improved if the local enterprise partnership’s Growth Deal 3 bid is accepted.

Its plans for the North Gateway Workington Development would see rail improvements to support the energy sector, with new employment sites opened up and new work space created.

County-wide work is planned to boost areas including tourism and transport.

Graham Haywood, director of the local enterprise partnership, said: “A successful Growth Deal 3 bid would give us even stronger foundations to contribute to Cumbria’s economic success and build on our existing strengths in manufacturing, nuclear, tourism, agriculture and logistics.”

Mark Fryer, deputy leader of Allerdale council and executive member responsible for economic development, said: “Lillyhall is West Cumbria’s premier industrial site and the council is keen to work with all its partners locally, regionally and nationally to realise the potential of the site, given the current exciting economic climate in Allerdale.

“Cumbria is on the verge of unprecedented economic investment and Allerdale, and Lillyhall in particular, are areas which are well placed to benefit, if we push ahead hard enough.

“As a council we’re drawing up our economic growth plan, which is due to be published in the autumn, and we are already ahead of the game with our commitment to economic development through the council plan.”