THE year is already shaping up to be a very good one for a company which has just enjoyed the best month in its history.

Record-breaking figures in March saw Brulines, the Stockton company behind the revolutionary draught dispense information service EDIS 2001, secure sales of £1m.

The celebrations continued when the company won the Small Business of the Year section in the North-East Business Awards.

Stephen Mather, sales and marketing director at the company, said: "This is a tremendous accolade for the firm and is an excellent platform on which to base future expansion. It also underlines our own commitment to the region and, in particular, Teesside.

"March has been the best month in the history of the company, and it is a tremendous boost for all those who have been working so hard on marketing Brulines products.

"To clear £1m EDIS sales in just one month demonstrates how much this system is in demand across the industry."

The company is now present in southern Ireland, which is acting as a test export market. After that, it has an export strategy that it intends to implement over several years.

Mr Mather said: "In parallel with the rising sales figures, we are investing heavily in research and development. The latest generation of EDIS has just been released to the market and has already sparked a great deal of interest.

"EDIS III contains innovative new features and is designed as a management information tool that will help to maximise profits."

The company has a website at www.brulines.co.uk for customers who want to access pub data.