BEING listed as a preferred contractor on the proposed Hinckley Point C power station project could boost an Ilkley-based company's turnover to nearly £1 billion, according to its boss.

David Hurcomb, chief executive of NG Bailey, said being included, along with joint venture partner Balfour Beatty, on the £14 billion project would also put the family-owned company in on the ground floor of the UK's 25-year new nuclear power building programme.

The Balfour Beatty Bailey joint venture has been listed by French power giant EDF among preferred bidders for £1.3 billion of projects on the proposed power station project in Somerset. Horsforth-based project management consultancy Turner &Townsend is also on the list.

Mr Hurcomb said he was "95 per cent certain" that Hinckley Point C would go ahead and hopes to be signing contracts in 2016. EDF, together with Chinese backers and the UK Government were behind the scheme.

" Both energy secretary Amber Rudd and Chancellor George Osborne have spoken in support of HInckley Point C and, subject to final details being sorted out by EDF, I''m 95 per cent certain that the project will proceed.

"For our part it will mean contracts worth half a billion pounds and take NG Bailey's order levels to nearly £1 billion. Being named among the preferred bidders also means that NG Bailey is in first on the new nuclear programme which is set to see many major projects over the next 25 years, putting us in a good position to compete for more contracts," he said.

Mr Hurcomb said that, while most of the 1,000 or so people to be recruited for Hinckley C by the joint venture would work there for a few years they would gain the skills for other work within the business.

While most of the work will be on site in Somerset, some back room roles , including quality control and procurement, were likely to be West Yorkshire based. .

Balfour Beatty Bailey is the preferred bidder to design and install miles of cabling and support systems at the new power station.

Turner & Townsend, which has been providing project controls for EDF Energy’s design team in Paris for the past three years, is the preferred sole provider of project controls .

David Hurcomb added: “ Our involvement in this project will allow Balfour Beatty Bailey to become a leading team in the nuclear new build arena – a sector in which both companies have extensive experience, having both worked on the first nuclear power station to be built in the UK at Calder Hall and, the last, at Sizewell B.”

Energy minister Andrea Leadsom said: " Hinkley Point C offers a tremendous opportunity for the UK supply chain and we've worked closely with EDF to ensure British firms benefit."