A FAMILY-RUN electrical retailer has branched out into e-commerce as a means to increase sales.

And in the 18 months that Middlesbrough-based Castlegate Electricals has run its online store, e-commerce sales have increased by 100 per cent a month and the site attracts 7,000 hits a day.

As a result of the increase, the firm is taking on a new member of staff to take its workforce to five.

The business, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year after being set up in Stockton in 1977, sees its site as the way to ensure its future.

Castlegate's owner, Colin Boal, said: "Given the decline of retail trade, particularly in independent outlets like Castlegate, we knew we had to make changes to the way we operated in order to keep the family name going for the next 30 years."

The site, billed as an online lighting superstore, stocks more than 1,100 lines and is supported by the range on offer in the Castlegate store in Middlesbrough's Dundas Arcade.

It was launched in August 2005 with help from Business Link Tees Valley, in response to the rise in UK internet retail sales, which now reach £3bn a month.

Tom Newbould, ICT advisor at Business Link, said: "Castlegate has proved it is important for businesses not to ignore e-commerce as a possible route to increasing turnover and profitability with the advantage of lower overheads."