Fast-growing Eldon Technology has won a £1 million contract with a division of global firm Philips which will help it expand even further.

The Bingley-based company, which has a manufacturing unit at Keighley, has won the contract with Dutch firm Philips Semiconductors to help develop integrated television.

It is the largest contract Eldon Technology has ever been awarded, and resources and marketing director Stephen Davey hopes it will lead to more work in the future.

Eldon's engineers and designers have developed equipment which will help put Philips at the leading edge of digital television technology.

It includes software developed by engineers at Eldon which will be used by Philips and sold separately, providing spin-off sales for the company.

The equipment will also allow television producers to add software produced by Eldon to its analogue sets, to get them into the digital market quicker.

The firm currently employs 85 people on its two sites.

But it expects that to rise to 100 by the end of next year.

A search is also on to find new premises in the Aire Valley to prepare for further expansion as the company eventually expects to employ up to 200 people.

Commercial director Paul Daly says: "Eldon has an established reputation for the design of integrated digital televisions, with no fewer than three manufacturers using us to assist in the development of products incorporating our Elgist brand into TVs for the UK terrestrial market.

"This experience, coupled with a long-standing relationship between Eldon and Philips Semiconductors on other digital projects, will ensure this reference design meets manufacturers' actual needs."

Joost Verhoeks, digital marketing manager with Philips Semiconductors, says: "We see this partnership as a vital step in enabling manufacturers of analogue receivers to enter the digital arena, without the substantial investment in software resources required to produce a competitive product."

Eldon Technology was established in 1988 by 11 senior managers and design engineers when the Ferguson new product research centre at Bradford closed down.

It is now the leading electronics design consultancy in Europe, and provides an extensive and widely diverse support service for major manufacturers of electronics-based products and components.

The company was acquired last September by EchoStar UK Holdings, and is now a subsidiary of EchoStar Communi-cations Corporation.