A large horizontal whirling ballerina attached to the side of the Royal Opera House has been brought to life by a specialist movement solutions company, Movetech UK.

Globe Head Ballerina, by artist Yinka Shonibare MBE, was commissioned by the iconic performing arts venue in Covent Garden, London as part of the London 2012 Festival and will be in place for five years.

The life-sized figure was inspired by a photograph of Margot Fonteyn, one of the world's best-loved ballerinas of the 20th century and modelled on Royal Ballet Soloist Melissa Hamilton - but it was designed to spin sideways, giving the installation team a huge head-scratcher to solve.

 An even and steady rotation on a flat plain is a complicated enough affair, but rotating on a horizontal axis adds gravity into the equation.

David Houghton, technical director of the company that constructed the turntable, Movetech UK, said: "Vertically mounted turntables are the most difficult prospect of them all. If the weight isn't balanced, the heavier part will cause it to slow down and then accelerate. It would look silly.

 "Margot was one of the most elegant dancers of her day, we couldn't allow the spin to judder and falter, so we needed to make sure we employed a powerful enough motor to ensure the rotation was smooth."

The piece was unveiled at the London Festival 2012 and will now stay in place for five years.

MDM Props Ltd completed the full installation, calling in Movetech UK to assist with the rotation.

MDM's Tim Meaker said: "We've worked with Movetech UK for more than ten years on a range of projects, though this was the first time we've had to commission something they didn't supply as standard.

"There aren't too many people with this sort of expertise, but they made the whole process really easy. When I talked about my requirement, they didn't 'um and ah', it was a simple process, regarding rotation, weight of sculpture, and so on."

"We work with artists and galleries, and people come to us because they want solutions to their challenges - and working with people who also have that attitude is refreshing for us. Movetech UK are the turn-to people for turntables - even the weird and wonderful."

Not many people can claim to have seen the inside of the bad-guy's headquarters from a James Bond movie, but a Bolton company has lifted the lid on how they got the Kremlin spinning in Roger Moore's Octopussy.

Speaking 30 years after the release of the blockbuster, and to commemorate the franchise's next film, which is being released on 26th October, Movetech told about the installation of the key piece in the film's Kremlin War Room.

In the 1983 film, a fake Fabergé egg and a fellow agent's death leads the screen hero to uncover an international jewel smuggling operation, headed by the mysterious Octopussy, being used to disguise a nuclear attack on NATO forces.

One of the main scenes in the film took place in a set designed to be the 'Kremlin War Room' which consisted of a large 33ft 5in diameter turntable supplied by Movetech UK, then the British Turntable Company.

David Houghton, Movetech's technical director explained: "The room had a 'C-shaped' table with several characters sat around it. At a certain point within the scene the revolve turned 90 degrees so they could face a large screen which opened at the same moment.

"James Bond may be the epitome of cool, but his adversaries are every bit as entertaining on screen. We might not want them to win, but we want to see inside their headquarters and have a look around. Having been a part of that is  something that our company is very proud of. The revolve worked to perfection and met the exact requirements of production company."

Movetech is a specialist in turntables, providing a large range of products for everyday uses - such as parking solutions and display carousels - as well as fulfilling more unusual requests, including the installation of the rotating ballerina on the side of the Royal Opera House.