TWO local companies have reached the final round of the "export Oscars", a national competition recognising the achievements of British businesses exporting to Europe.

Amdega of Darlington, and Stokesley-based Analox Sensor Technology are among the ten national finalists, each of whom will receive £3,000 of European air travel from British Midland. They will also be invited to an awards dinner at the Grosvenor House hotel in London on November 30, where the overall winner will receive a cheque for £20,000 from Barclays.

Established in 1874, Amdega is the oldest and best known conservatory manufacturer in Britain; records show that as early as 1890 orders for the elegant English glasshouses were being placed by the European nobility as well as the local gentry.

Until 1998, the export department consisted of just one person, but a substantial restructuring has led to the development of a pan-European network of agents, a four-man design team and a staff of 12 in the UK to co-ordinate this growing area of the business

In the last few years it has built up its export business to such an extent that total exports for the past 12 months reached £4.25m, 50pc of this in Europe.

Analox Sensor Technology is a somewhat younger company, but it has also made great strides in the export market.

Analox analysers, which monitor breathing air in the diving and hyperbaric industries, have been in production since 1981 and have sold world-wide. The company has produced a variety of air analysis systems for use in life critical situations, including a device which monitors the state of breathing air in submarines.

More recently, the firm has developed the Analox 5 carbon dioxide sensor, of which there are already 12,000 in Germany. The company also supplies France, Spain and Holland and a new outlet is being established in Denmark.

Mr Peter Harvey, managing director of corporate services at Barclays, and one of the panel of judges, said: "The overall quality of the entries was remarkably high, but Amdega and Analox Sensor Technology stood out as dynamic, confident companies that have used traditional business skills as well as entrepreneurial flair to establish a highly successful presence in the new Europe.