TECHNOLOGY solutions company Onyx Group has made another key step in its plan to more than double turnover in three years by acquiring a North-East IT service company.

Onyx has announced the acquisition of Jade Integration, based in Newcastle, which will help increase Onyx's services of data hosting and security solutions.

The Middlesbrough group's purchase was hailed as a significant new component in its portfolio, and will enable Onyx to provide a full range of managed solutions to industry and commerce.

The acquisition is the third in the past year, and is set to increase Onyx's position in the IT and technology industry.

It will also add to Onyx's growing presence in the workplace recovery sector, after it recently opened a £1m centre in Team Valley, Gateshead - the biggest in the region - to help businesses continue to trade in the event of a disaster. It has similar centres in Newcastle and on Teesside.

Onyx said the acquisition would help boost its £10m turnover by at least £1m, and was part of its expansion programme to help push turnover to £23m in three years.

Jade Integration was founded in 2002 and now has more than 800 clients and ten full-time staff. It will remain at its Newcastle Quayside offices, and will work in conjunction with Onyx's premises at DataBanx, in Newcastle, the recovery centre in Gateshead and its head office in Middlesbrough.

Neil Stephenson, chief executive of Onyx Group, said: "The acquisition will both enhance our service offering and bring in additional revenue of over £1m per annum."

Onyx has been on the acquisition trail for several months, after taking over Teesside-based Business Continuity Centres (BCC) in December for an undisclosed fee, and IT company Innov8 shortly before.

The company also plans to float on the Stock Exchange.