Celebrations are underway at a Bradford company after it landed a £12 million Government contract.

Supplies Team, Europe's largest distributor of electronic office supplies, beat off intense rivalry to win the tender with the Department of Works and Pensions.

The deal with the ministry, formerly the Department of Social Services, is initially for three years and is one of the largest in the country for office supplies.

Lorraine Kent, sales director at the Little Germany firm, said: "The company's dedicated team work and attention to detail was the key to winning this significant contract.

"Our high levels of service and range of flexible benefits have helped Supplies Team to exactly match the wide range of customer requirements needed to service a contract of this size."

It is not the first major Government contract to be landed by the company.

In May 1998 the firm announced it had won a tender with the Ministry of Defence to supply printer cartridges, ribbons and specialist paper worth about £4 million.

But managing director Andy Greening said the company could not have replicated the basis of that successful bid in its latest one.

He said: "No two organisations are exactly the same, so we segment our sales business into channels so that the people dealing with your account are specially trained and experienced to match your requirements."

The company, established in 1970, employs more than 500 people in six sites around the United Kingdom and Ireland including a warehouse on the M606 motorway.

UK marketing manager Quintin Komaromy said: "This is our largest contract this year and one of the largest for office supplies in the country.

"We have been working with Government agencies for quite a long time and, with our teams' knowledge, we are able to produce bespoke services."

The contract is the latest coup in a successful year for the Vicar Lane firm. It has also won contracts with Visa, Homebase, GKN and Centrica.