AN energy and utilities consultancy firm says it will continue creating North-East jobs after fuelling its growth with a £10m deal.

Utilitywise told The Northern Echo its 1,000-strong workforce will expand as it targets more customers.

The firm has bought T-Mac Technologies, which bosses say will open up software focused on customer subscription services for electricity, gas and water management.

Geoff Thompson, Utilitywise chief executive, said the company, which has more than 23,000 customers and employs more than 1,000 people, was primed to continue its successes.

He said it will be galvanised by an ever-growing workforce focused on customer services, its T-Mac agreement, and record customer rates in March.

He said: “We are all very pleased with the results, which are testament to the hard work of the whole team.

“But, even though we are growing, there is still a long way to go and there are opportunities to do that and maintain the momentum that’s behind us.

“New customers remain an important priority and March represented the highest monthly customer acquisition performance for the group in its history.

“We are continuing to invest in ways to help customers, through growth in headcount to focus on telephone calls, field sales teams and account management.

“We are helping people manage their efficiencies and T-Mac adds the final component to that.

“We give them access to the software, so they can remotely switch off lighting or air conditioning, or we can do it for them in a bureau service.

“We know customers are increasingly looking for rapid and cost-effective services to provide more control over electricity, gas and water use, and this continues to expand our broad range.”

The deal was confirmed as Utilitywise, based in North Tyneside, revealed its half-year results to January 31, where it said revenues increased 42 per cent on a year ago to £29.9m.

Adjusted pre-tax profits were up 49 per cent to £7.3m, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (Ebitda) rising 42 per cent to £7.7m.

Mr Thompson added: “We have continued to make progress with impressive growth in revenue and Ebitda, and during the period we extended contracts for existing customers and continued to secure new customers.”