ONE of the world's leading technology companies has signed a £50 million deal to collect electricity and water meter readings from 2.2 million homes and businesses in the North West.

Invensys Measurement Services (IMServ) will collect more than four million manual readings a year from Norweb and North West Water customers in a deal with customer management specialist Vertex.

Bill O'Reilly, IMServ's senior vice president (strategic development), said: "The contract with Vertex is a significant move for us in both the commercial and domestic meter reading marketplaces."