AN Accrington engraving firm is celebrating finishing their highest profile contract for Ireland's best known music venue.

Hitchens engravers, Maudsley Street, was hired to help out with the regeneration of the famous Grand Opera House in Belfast.

The 111-year-old opera house has recently reopened following a huge revamp including the opening of a new venue, called the Baby Grand.

And Hitchens was called in to engrave a striking motif etched out of copper for the entrance to the Baby Grand, which has now been complete and is called "Thinly Veiled."

The deal was worth £6,000 to the firm, but bosses at the company, which has four employees, hope it will be priceless in terms of publicity.

John Coyne, director, said: "Belfast Opera House has had quite a lot of work done recently and they have had a new theatre built. It was the artist, Julie Westerman, who approached us.

"She had been searching and searching for someone to do the job, and we did it! It was a wire-frame design which she wanted engraving on to copper, for the entrance.

"It's a really prestigious job. She scoured the country to find someone to do the job, and we were the only ones because of the machinery we have got."

A spokesman for the venue has confirmed Hitchens was used for the work. The design is supposed to portray the billowing cloth of a curtain in motion, as it opens.

Hitchens has operated in Accrington for 12 years, and in September this year was bought out by Mr Coyne and joint director Graeme Walsh.

Mr Coyne said: "The engraving took us about two weeks. They supplied all the materials and we went through a few different samples trying different methods until we came up with the one the artist wanted."