A COUNTY Durham catering company is bringing a taste of India to staff at printed circuit board manufacturer Via Systems.

Bishop Auckland-based Consort Catering has won the contract to provide meals to more than 2,500 staff at the Newcastle business.

It has already embarked on a series of theme-days, with Indian food provided by Spice Island, of Darlington, first on the menu.

The contract is the third recent success for the company, which already provides catering services for water cooler manufacturer Ebac and the CA Group in Evenwood.

Consort was started by business partners Tracey Chappell and Anton and Alison De-Rijk two-and-a-half years ago.

Tracey said: "We started the business with the CA Roofing contract. That was followed by the Ebac win two years later.

"The Via Systems contract is our biggest to date and we are hoping for more contract wins on the back of it.

"It is also our largest contract to date, catering for more than 2,500 people across two sites."

She added: "We started the contract with an Indian theme day which proved so successful that we are currently looking to do more of the same, with perhaps one theme day a month.

"The staff from Spice Island in Darlington were amazing. They started cooking at 8.30am in the morning and began serving by 11.30am."

Consort Catering began with a staff of just four, including international chef Anton De-Rijk who has worked in Paris, Bermuda and Geneva.

It now employs 32 full time staff, but at busy times can call on a team of 80 staff, including 20 chefs.