HIGH-tech firm Mitrefinch has begun 2007 with completion of the first stage of a huge expansion of its premises in Clifton Moor.

The time and attendance specialist, whose staff grew last year from 78 to 90, has spent more than £250,000 refurbishing and extending by 9,000 sq ft what was a former bathroom and tile warehouse when it first moved on to the Green Lane Trading Estate back in 1993.

Later this year its production area will double to 3,600 ft.

Debbie Guppy, Mitrefinch's director of business management, said: "Our implementation, project management and accountancy teams have all now started the new year in the new area. It's a good beginning."

The physical expansion comes as the company, whose turnover soared 18 per cent last year, is riding high in the industry. Last month it scooped the award for Best Payroll Support Technology at the National Pay Awards.

Judges were impressed by its software to work on rugged mobile devices such as PDAs so that employees can clock in remotely from tough environments like construction sites.

Mitrefinch's core product, TMS time and attendance systems, now operate at more than 2,500 sites worldwide, and the nifty new PDA technology was expected to add about £3 million to revenues.

The Pay Awards victory rounded off a clutch of honours, as finalist in the Orange Business Awards in July and as a finalist in the Large Business Of The Year category in the 2006 Press Business Awards in November. Mitrefinch had already scooped the Best Use of New Technology titles in both the 2004 and 2005 Press awards.

The expansion also comes as Mitrefinch is working hard to create a new recruitment module for its human resources package.

Mrs Guppy said: "It will help companies to reduce the administration of recruitment, recording advertising costs, scanning CVs and automatically sending out letters."

The new product should be launched at Easter and rolled out to other offices in Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne and Dublin.