GO into any of Britain's leading pub or restaurant chains and you can't fail to notice the eye-catching promotional material.

There is sure to be a wide range of posters, beer-mats and offers to entice customers into trying something new. There may also be competitions with prizes of T-shirts, golf umbrellas and other customised items.

What you won't know is that all this promotional paraphernalia has probably come from a redundant old textile mill in Blackburn.

Waterfall Mill is the headquarters of MDA, which describes itself as the UK's most proactive point-of-sale management company.

The company works with some of the country's biggest brand names in the pub and restaurant industry.

It lists among its clients names such as Stella Artois, Martel, Pernod, Beefeater, Brewers Fayre, TGI Friday's, Welcome Break, Blackthorn and the big four pub companies: Pubmaster, Punch, Enterprise Inns and Laurel.

MDA already employs more than 140 people at its Mill Hill base and is poised for a new phase of expansion.

Construction work on a new £3.5million warehouse will begin in January, which chief executive Michael Davies expects to create an additional 260 jobs.

The four-acre development will give the company the capacity to store 40,000 pallets which will keep it at the forefront of the industry.

Michael launched MDA in Blackpool in 1987 and bought its first site in Blackburn in 1989 at Queen Victoria Street. Three years later, expansion led to the purchase of a second unit at Waterfall Mill and the company moved its entire operations to Blackburn in 1997.

"The big, open spaces at these old mills are ideal for us," explained Michael. "The M65 is relatively close and, most importantly, we have a work-force we can rely on. People here really care about what they do.

"It is incredible that so many of our employees have been with the company since its beginning and this has doubtless been a major factor in the consistency of customer service the business has delivered over the years."

The management team has been strengthened with key appointments, including managing director Ian Stead, who has worked for Coca Cola and Allied Breweries, and Nigel Jew, the new commercial director. Michael explained that the company's success had been built on the fundamental restructuring of the brewing industry which had separated pub ownership and management from making beer.

"The big drinks companies did not have the infrastructure in place to provide point-of-sales support to their brands," he said. "Equally, the new pub companies did not have the resources."

MDA fills the gap by providing a complete service, from providing new marketing concepts right through to delivering promotional packs to pubs and restaurants. As part of the process, it will buy print and promotional items, store them, manage the ordering, collation and packing and provide a detailed evaluation of the service.

The company is now looking to break into new markets away from its traditional drinks-based trade and has appointed brands specialist Joanne Davis as head of strategic development.

"It has become quite clear to us that the way we work lends itself to other markets," said Michael. "We support brands and sales and our approach could be put to use in any business."

An early success was a contract to put together a children's pack for young travellers using Monarch Airlines.

"We were appointed to design, procure, kit-pack and distribute 500,000 children's entertainment packs for use on flights," said Michael

"The creation of the kits was carried out by our in-house design team and its contents were sourced from all over the world."