NI firm wins top award

A theme park ride has earned a County Antrim based construction company the title of British Construction Firm of the Year 2003.

Mivan, was awarded for a its Mission: SPACE ride, which was launched at the Walt Disney World resort in Florida last month.

The ride, which took five years to design with the help of Nasa advisers and astronauts, sends guests on a simulated astronaut training session to Mars.

It was the first time the award - from the British Consultants & Construction Bureau - has been won by a Northern Ireland company.

"We are delighted to receive this award and it is a tribute to everyone who worked on the project," said Mivan chief executive Dr Ivan McCabrey.

"Mission: SPACE was an extremely complex and technically challenging contract and this award recognises Mivan's strong working relationship with Disney in delivering such projects within budget and on time."

The company received the award at a special ceremony in London.

Mivan has carried out work in more than 40 countries in the past 25 years, including the new Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, building part of Disney, Paris, a palace in Iraq for fallen dictator Saddam Hussein, a hospital in the Gaza Strip and replacing the gold leaf on the roof of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

It has also refitted the QE2 more than once.

The company employs about 400 people in Northern Ireland and nearly 1,000 worldwide.