A LEADING IT firm based in Southampton has announced plans to double its workforce during the course of the year.

IT hosting company PEER 1 Hosting will today unveil a new recruitment drive to expand its UK team, taking its current headcount from 30 to 60 during the course of 2012.

The latest recruitment drive will see it hire 30 of the UK’s best graduates into IT sales and technical support roles and e x p a n d into new office space to support the growth.

The company has had a 100 per cent year-on-year growth since it launched in the UK in 2009 and has recently opened a £45m custom-built flagship data centre in Portsmouth.

PEER 1 Hosting’s recruitment drive is likely to buck the national trend with the Office of National Statistics due to release the latest unemployment figures today.

Dominic Monkhouse, of PEER 1 Hosting said: “Recruiting and retaining quality staff is the single biggest factor behind the unprecedented growth the business has seen in our first three years.

“Customers want to buy award-winning services and only brilliant staff can deliver the superior care factor to make that happen.”