Nottingham-based Chinook Sciences has won a contract worth more than £300 million to build the world’s largest energy-from-waste facility in Sharjah in the UAE. Bee’ah, a Middle East environmental and waste management company, awarded Chinook the contract after being introduced to the firm by UK Trade and Investment.

Trade Minister Lord Livingston made the formal announcement of the order on a visit to the company’s headquarters. He said: “Our medium-size businesses have the potential to be economic power-houses for the UK.

Their success depends on expanding beyond domestic markets, and Chinook Sciences is a great example of a company doing just that.”

Rifat Chalabi, chairman and chief executive of Chinook Sciences , said: “The Sharjah project is a major milestone for Chinook Sciences, as it means we are now building the world’s largest household waste gasification plant in partnership with one of the most visionary companies in the sector. This is further validation of our market-leading technology and project delivery capability.”