A CONSTRUCTION company is hoping to hit the right note with its most important contract to date - fitting out the ceiling of the Sage Music Centre.

MMP Joinery and Shopfitting beat national competition to build six main ceiling panels at the futuristic venue, right, on the Gateshead banks of the River Tyne.

The Bishop Auckland firm, sub-contracted to Laing O'Rourke, will build the curved profiles which will be suspended from a steel structure.

The panels, measuring 16 metres by 6 metres, can be raised and lowered to enhance the performances of the artists on stage.

The innovative panels were designed by Richard Rogers.

Steve Hodges, shopfitting manager at MMP Joinery and Shopfitting, said: "This is a great project for us as the Sage is the first venue in the UK to be fitted with this type of acoustic panelling.

"Audiences are guaranteed great sound when watching a show as the panels are set to complement each individual act.

"It is a brand-new concept and it's great that it has been pioneered in the North-East." Michael O'Connell, managing director of MMP, said: "To be part of the creation of such an iconic building is a tremendous achievement for a North-East firm and we are proud to be selected to work on such a prestigious construction."

MMP Joinery and Shopfitting is a privately owned building and civil engineering company established in 1986.