THE sales team at Bury-based Pennine Telecom have formed their own "fighting force" to wipe out competition.

And the move by the Salford Street company, following a management buy-out last September, has seen sales rise dramatically.

Seven of the team at Pennine, one of the region's premier telecoms suppliers, have been rewarded with a luxury holiday in Tenerife.

The campaign to boost sales performance was underpinned with a training package formulated by Steve Dawes of Resolution Sales and Marketing.

Results over the three-month period far exceeded expectations with total sales of more than £1.25 million and with seven out of the 12 sales staff winning the major prize by achieving more than 125 per cent of their targets.

Pennine managing director Andrew Roberts, who led the management buy-out, said: "To coincide with the buy-out, we decided to try a new approach to boost our overall sales performance and generate increased sales in our telephone, radio, mobile cellular and least cost routing divisions.

"The sales mission was to wipe out the competition and the winners were offered a major incentive of a holiday in Tenerife."

Marketing manager Les Rushton, said: "It was deemed to have been a very successful event and helped bond the team into a formidable 'fighting force' for the future."