FOR the second year running Waterstons, the Durham-based IT and Business Consultancy, has made it to the final of the Microsoft Digital Britain Awards.

Its IT solution for the National Salvage Group (NSG) is one of only three projects to be shortlisted in the Enterprise Business Agility category.

The award recognises companies that have come up with particularly creative responses to business problems, using the latest information technology.

Waterstons, which employs 38 staff at the Belmont Business Park, on the outskirts of Durham, rose to a challenge posed by NSG to link together its network of vehicle salvage agents, with a range of insurance, engineering and fleet management companies, in order to make communications more efficient and increase NSG's business capacity.

Waterstons has managed to achieve a seamless interface between all of the disparate systems used by NSG's clients, from initial instructions about a vehicle, through to disposal.

Engineers can even assess damage to vehicles from digital images, so they do not have to spend time and money on travelling out to inspect them.

With the latest development - NSGenius.com - police forces can also check salvaged vehicles for "ringers". They access the information through their own web interface.

Waterstons director Ajaib Singh said: "This has been a great year for us. Already we have won a Deloitte and Touche fast 50 award and we are delighted that our solution for NSG has been recognised by Microsoft.

"We are really looking forward to the awards ceremony in London tomorrow. It will be an excellent opportunity to take the achievements of the North-East to a national audience."

Alison Carey, of NSG, said: "Waterstons have been integral in the development of our systems and we have doubled our turnover in the past two years.

"NSG consider that the solution provided by Waterstons using the latest information technology has contributed significantly to our success."