A Northern Ireland environmental engineering company and a German equipment testing manufacturer have signed a £57 million sterling (€92 million) deal with the Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency in the North to provide state-of-the-art test facilities.

Rotary Group and the German company Maha have jointly signed a Public Private Partnership deal with the government agency test facilities at 15 MOT centres in Northern Ireland.

The Driver Vehicle Test Agency employs around 390 staff and has an annual turnover of 11.5 million. Over the next year the agency expects to carry out around 600,000 vehicle tests. Rotary, which employs 1,500 and Maha, with more than 900 employees, has established a new joint venture company to service the new contract, which will be known as Romaha.