A DARLINGTON-BASED international firm has won a prestigious European accolade in the first year it has entered the awards.

Whessoe Oil & Gas Limited, which has offices in Darlington, Houston and Shanghai, won a Ruben D'Honneur medal at the European Business of the Year Awards.

It was a first time entrant to the awards, which were presented in Paris, after it won the UK National Business of the Year award last year.

The European Business Awards showcase the best of European business talent. The accolade follows a nine-month search.

They are open to organisations of any size and in any field.

The citation supporting the category award said: "As judges of the award we were all inspired by the passion shown from the leader of this organisation.

"Whessoe Oil & Gas has a clear strategic vision in place to take the company forward, with proven success to date.

"The competition for this award was fierce and Whessoe Oil & Gas stood out with its product development, customer focus and development of people with a new coaching programme."

Jon Dale, managing director of Whessoe Oil & Gas, said: "We were really stunned about wining in the UK as it was a fantastic achievement for Whessoe.

"But the awarding of a Ruben D'Honneur medal is the icing on the cake! It really says a lot about the hard work that has been done here in Darlington and across the world at all of our project sites."

Whessoe was founded in 1790, but has expanded substantially in the past six years.

In 2001 it employed 65 people and had a turnover of £5million. Last year it had grown to 400 employees with a turnover of £160million.