GROWING IT company GreyRidge has moved offices for the second time in 12 months.

The software company, which was set up in 2005, is moving from a Newcastle City Council incubator unit to Leazes Park Road, in the city centre.

GreyRidge, which employs six staff and is on target to double turnover this year, initially set out to develop and supply business systems to professional service companies, and bespoke software to small and medium-sized companies.

However, its directors quickly saw a huge gap in the market for software developed for franchised companies.

After research, bosses found that in a high number of cases, franchisees were using many operating systems to run their businesses, and franchisers were unable to see the flow of money within their business.

GreyRidge spent time developing a global system that combines all of the tasks a franchise network needs.

Director Andy Thomas said: "We could not believe that there was not a product on the market at the time to cater for this multi-billion pound industry. We saw the opportunity and went for it. We have so far developed 15 networks and have many more in negotiation."