A HIGH-TECH firm has dialled up a £1.2million order that will pave the way for a major expansion and up to 20 new jobs.

Ryder Systems has struck the three year deal with Vodaphone to supply billing information to its major customers

The major order has coincided with the launch of a new internet product by the firm and an expansion plan which bosses hope will see the it double in size over the next two years.

Blackburn-based Ryder currently handles thousands of bills every month for major telecommunications firms.

It specialises in software that turns the bill into a mine of information for the customers of telephone firms

"Bill are often seen as a negative thing - basically you are telling you how much you owe for something," explained managing director Paul Haworth, who founded the company 11 years ago.

"But we can present bills in a way that makes them a useful tool for companies." The information, which includes analysis of the busiest phones in an office or the ten dearest calls and where they made from and to, can then be used to identify possible savings.

The firm, based at Daisyfield Mill, currently employs 20 people and is recruiting more to cope with the extra workload. It also hopes to break into the international market.

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