A BUILDING firm is celebrating winning a multi-million pound deal.

Ensign Developments has been awarded the contract by insurance giant Royal & SunAlliance to carry out work on subsidence damaged properties throughout the North West.

The firm is now planning to take on up to 20 new employees to help carry out the work. Managing director Gerard Ennis today said the deal was "fantastic news" for the company.

"It gives us a fairly steady flow of work for the next three years and will help us expand.

"We had to go through a very stringent process to win the contract but it has been very worthwhile."

Ensign has been carrying out subsidence work for Royal and SunAlliance on a job-by-job basis for some time.

But the insurers wants to reduce the number of building contractors it deals with and has now appointed just three in the North West, including Ensign, for all its work. Ensign, which employs around 40 people, also carries out work for major firms such as Lloyds TSB and the Yorkshire Bank.

Mr Ennis won a personal achievement award in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph East Lancashire business awards earlier this year.

He founded the firm in 1994 and in the past three years the workforce has doubled.

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