A HAMPSHIRE based technology firm is creating 70 new jobs as part of an expansion plan.

Novatech will be adding to its 200 strong workforce as its Portchester headquarters as it primes itself for a growing economy.

Fifty of the jobs will be created within the next two years in a new floor sales floor that will be officially opened by Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt on Friday, June 13, at 2pm.

The investment is part of a £600,000 investment plan in the firm's infrastructure aimed at positioning the company for a successful future.

It comes after the firm was handed a £50,000 grant by the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership from its 'bridging the gap fund' and, with £250,000 investment also being contributed by the company itself.

Managing director David Furby, who founded the company in 1987, said: “We are a 27-year-old technology company powering out of the recession with another transformation.

“For three or four years now we have been starting to focus more on our IT provision and support services, working with businesses and schools to help them get the best technology systems for their needs, and helping them maintain them.

“We like to think of it as worry-free computing - we do all the work so the businesses and schools can get on with what they need to do. We enable them to achieve their goals by giving them the right technology and supporting them in using it.

“Now, as we look to the future, we are delighted to be able to say we are expanding in this direction, and able to take on more staff thanks in part to the Solent LEP's grant funding.

“We don't always take on staff with IT backgrounds. In fact, many of our employees are ex-forces - including submariners, commandos, and engineers.

“We also have apprentices in both technical and sales roles.

“We think we are a British manufacturing success story, and we are very excited about what the future will bring.”

The firm was originally set up 27 years ago as a computer parts mail order firm, and now well-known technology company Novatech is expanding its offices and taking on up to 70 new staff in the next two years as it looks forward to an even brighter future.

Over the years, Novatech has morphed from its mail order business into an e-commerce innovator, and from there has grown to become a trusted technology supplier to key firms, including Zurich Insurance, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin.

In 2011 the firm won the RBS Management Team of the Year award at the Daily Echo backed Hampshire Business Awards.