A FAST-EXPANDING warehousing and distribution specialist has secured a £1million contract to help the world's most famous brand name -- Coca-Cola.

MDA Limited will become a UK partner of Coca-Cola Enterprise (CCE), with an exclusive three-year contract.

And one of its first tasks will be to support the £5million advertising campaign for new fruit juice brand, Minute Maid.

The Blackburn-based company already manages promotional and marketing materials for other brands, including Stella Artois.

MDA will provide a crucial link between Coca-Cola and its stockists, distributing a vast range of bespoke point of sale materials for core brands.

MDA is also managing merchandising materials for the rest of Coca-Cola's signature soft drinks portfolio, including Schweppes, Dr Pepper, Fanta, Sprite, Capri-Sun and Coke and Diet Coke.

The contract, which kicked off yesterday to coincide with American Independence day, was won after a competitive tendering process that started in November 2004.

MDA expects to fulfill at least 75,000 orders for Coca-Cola merchandise every year, including glassware and posters, and the deal will create around 15 jobs.

Ian Stead, managing director of MDA, said: "Naturally we are delighted to have been selected as Coca-Cola Enterprise's GB handling partner. For the past five years we have been refining a sophisticated, integrated approach to marketing fulfilment that offers a genuine added-value proposition for major brands, and this latest achievement is testament to that proposition and the strength of our resources."

The work will be handled from MDA's giant £5million Cardwell Mill warehouse in Mill Hill.

MDA, which employs 130 people in Blackburn, is the UK's leading specialist in brand fulfilment and procurement, supporting campaigns for leading names such as Stella Artois, Cadbury, Punch Taverns, Monarch Airlines, Whitbread, Warburtons and Pernod.