A SATELLITE dish firm has won a major order in the face of competition across Europe.

Channel Master (UK) Ltd have clinched a deal to supply BSkyB with a new system ready for the launch of a digital satellite service later his year.

Although the firm said the exact value of the deal was confidential it is understood to be worth more than £1 million.

The deal follows Channel Master's design staff spending around 18 months on designing and developing the new system with a specially shaped dish.

"It is excellent news for Blackburn that we have won this order," said John Yates, managing director of the Whitebirk Industrial Estate firm which employs 80.

The firm, the UK arm of the American Channel Master group, has recently invested £1 million in its facilities at the site.

The Blackburn site assembles and exports dishes throughout Europe both for domestic and commercial use.

Recent projects have included supplying dishes for the National Lottery, B&Q stores, Sainsbury's and the Halifax plc for data transmission.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.