A Lowestoft theatrical design company has secured a five year contract to design and build stages for cruise ships.

Scenic Projects, who have previously built production stage sets for cruise ships such as the Queen Elizabeth and Seaborn Quest, will be building the stages for Marella Cruises.

The first ten sets are being prepared in their Lowestoft-based workshops and will soon be installed aboard the Marella Explorer One in Cadiz, Spain.

The contract, awarded by UK entertainment company The Entertainment Department (TED), will see 20 full stage sets installed across two ships over a period of a year, with new sets added each year.

Managing director of Scenic Projects, Nick Garrod, said: 'I am thrilled that our team has secured this very high-profile project for Marella Cruises and ted and I am very excited about the potential this has for the company's future.'

Steve Leatham, creative director of TED, said: 'Working with Nick, Martin and the rest of the talented team at Scenic has been wonderful, we have already undertaken various visits to the first vessel including most recently a technical assessment of the ships theatre in Singapore.

'We are proud to be partnering with Scenic Projects and look forward to growing our respective businesses together through the successful and ongoing delivery of major theatrical productions to the Marella Explorer ships.'

Scenic Projects was established in Beccles in 1996 before moving to the newly refurbished Nelson Wharf site in Lowestoft where it employs 35 members of staff.

The company started out designing and building sets for local amateur theatre companies, with the business now supplying more than 500 musical and pantomime sets each year to theatres around the country as the UK's biggest supplier of stage scenery.

The Entertainment Department are Europe's premier full-circle entertainment supplier with clients including international and domestic leisure chains, luxury hotels and major cruise lines. The decision was made due to the company's belief that the design and fabrication of theatrical scenery is a specialist skill, leading them to partner with Scenic Projects.