WHEREVER they may roam... Cellhire regards York as home.

Cellhire is the Clifton Park-based mobile phone solutions provider which is world famous for getting around expensive "roaming" charges abroad.

It has offices around the planet, plus satisfied customers like David Beckham and the whole England football team, the media people who went to Russia for the recent Ice Hockey World Championships and the likes of intrepid travellers such as David Hempleman Adams who used Cellhire phones while attempting to cross the Atlantic in a gas balloon.

But its roots are in York which is why it is entering the International Trade category in The Press Business Of The Year awards 2007.

Its SIMSmart offering enables business travellers to stay in touch with colleagues, family and friends - and save up to 70 per cent against traditional roaming charges. The service allows them to take their own mobile phone numbers abroad, with no obligation, no compulsory top-ups and full 24-hour global support.

SIMSmart provides travellers with either a local SIM card for GSM countries, or a handset with Japanese or Korean airtime for visitors to the Far East. UK mobile numbers are simply diverted to a call forwarding number for the duration of the trip, then cancelled once the traveller returns to the UK.

The firm has already supplied mobile phones to various national teams in previous football World Cups and could do it again. Ditto the Olympic Games, but Tim Williams, Cellhire's chief executive, says his firm is equally at home supplying corporate sales conferences, exhibition organisers and smaller events.

But glamour is hard to avoid. Cellhire is the official mobile provider for the Cannes Film Festival. Big-name customers have included the production crew for the Hollywood blockbuster, Oceans 13.

So Cellhire reprogrammed their SIMS with the personal phone numbers of the film's stars, Brad Pitt and George Clooney.

But Matt Bennett, UK managing director, pre-empts any requests. "Sorry, girls, the Cellhire team is sworn to secrecy," he says.