WHEN Seamus McDermott set up McDermott Homes from a spare bedroom he did not envisage 15 years later the company would have a turnover of £40million.

In 1992, aged 28, the son of an Irish building family left Dublin for Burnley, after seeing a gap for family homes in East Lancashire's housing market, which was made up mainly of traditional terraces.

Since then McDermott Homes, has seen rapid growth and today builds more than 200 homes a year.

Mr McDermott, 43, said: "In the North West building land was considerably cheaper and population was higher.

"When I first moved over here there were a lot of terraced homes, so there was a significant demand for three, four and five-bedroomed houses.

"I saw a gap in the market and decided to give people what they needed; well-priced, good-sized, quality homes."

In 1994 the firm moved from Mr McDermott's spare bedroom to his garage.

Showing an iron will to succeed - reflected in Mr McDermott taking part in iron man contests and triathlons - the business moved into its current premises in Bridgewater Close two years later.

In 2005 McDermott Homes was named as the eighth fastest growing company in the North West in the Sunday Times Pricewaterhouse Coopers Profit Track 100.

The firm was placed 63rd place overall in the chart, which tracks the fastest growing companies in the country after McDermott Homes recorded growth of 54 per cent with £5.3million profits.

It recently opened a second office in Leeds and McDermott Homes now employs 40 staff between the two sites.

In 15 years the firm has completed over 30 housing developments in Blackburn, Loveclough, Helmshore and Burnley, and further afield in Liverpool, Manchester and Congleton.

Mr McDermott is married to Catherine Davies, who edits the company's magazine, and the couple live in Burnley.

The company has recently launched a new information campaign Better4Buyers following rises in interest rates and the launch of controversial HIPS (Home Information Packs) which asses how energy efficient properties are.

Mr McDermott said his firm considers the wider impact developments have in helping to regenerate an area when choosing areas in which to build.

He added: "Often it is the local communities that transform an area - creating a local feeling that is hard to find elsewhere.

"East Lancashire has become so famous for creating a welcoming atmosphere and it is this and the sense of community that McDermott Homes prides itself upon when creating its develop-ments."