A RAPIDLY expanding technology company wants to increase its workforce for the fifth time this year.

Pitbull Studio, based at Sunderland’s Evolve Business Centre, needs programming experts to work on its nextgeneration technology, adding to its 23-strong workforce.

The company has built steadily since it was set up two years ago, employing a number of graduates from North-East universities and nine recruits in the past three months.

The business is already making a name for itself nationally.

Its game Circus Challenge won the NHS Innovation of the Year Award 2011, while an adaptation, which transformed its game Big Top THD into a physical therapy tool for stroke victims, won an NHS innovation award.

Robert Troughton, Pitbull’s managing director, said: “It’s a tough market for everyone, – the entertainment industry included, but the support we have had from Sunderland City Council has been an invaluable help in assisting with not only the initial startup of the business, but the ongoing help we have needed at each stage of our growth.

“Our desire to expand within Sunderland is an easy decision.

There are a lot of people in the gaming industry in the North-East, but being in Sunderland puts us within easy reach of most of them.”