A Northern Ireland design and manufacturing company has signed a contract worth more than £100,000 sterling to supply all the litter bins to the Millennium Dome. Unicorn Containers, based in Craigavon, Co Armagh, employs more than 40 people making waste bins, catering trolleys and security cabinets, exporting 95 per cent of its products to markets outside Northern Ireland.

Managing director Mr Roger Pannell said the contract arose from an inquiry from the Richard Rogers Partnership, a design firm involved in selecting products for the Dome.

Meanwhile, a Belfast product design company specialising in products for disabled children has won its second Millennium Product Award. James Leckey Design, which won its first award earlier this year, has now secured another for its "lifting stander", which helps carers and therapists raise wheelchair-bound children to an upright position.

"Being able to stand, even for a short time, can dramatically improve a disabled child's quality of life and overall sense of well-being," says JLD managing director Mr James Leckey. "It is also a great help to carers, because it means that they do not have to risk back injury through the effort of constantly lifting young children."

The Millennium Product Awards were initiated in 1997, and have been awarded to products and services considered the most innovative in the past two years.