CUSTOMERS of Darwen-based Brookhouse Holdings can take a tour of the high-tech engineering company without leaving their desks.

The company has produced a CD-ROM which allows an interactive virtual visit to the company's manufacturing and production facilities in Darwen, Tameside and Cambridge. The easy-to-use CD provides information on each of the companies within the Brookhouse Group which specialises in composites engineering and detailed assembly for the aerospace industry.

The CD has two key features: the virtual tour and the virtual product. The tour allows users to see inside each factory and view the range of facilities such as clean rooms, machine tools and measuring equipment. The virtual product feature gives viewers the opportunity to examine typical products. This examination includes a capability to turn the manufactured products through 360 degrees so that all aspects of their design can be seen.

Brookhouse Holdings plc comprises six manufacturing companies. They include Brookhouse Patterns Limited, of Darwen, which specialises in the design and manufacture of tools for composite components for projects such as the Eurofighter programme; and Brookhouse Composites Ltd, also of Darwen, which manufactures and repairs composite components.