A Norwich-created business is looking to double its size and turnover to £2.5m in the coming year, having opened new offices in Thetford to serve the growing demand for its services there.

Straight Forward Recruitment is currently turning over around £1.5m out of its office in the city centre's London Street, but hopes that adding six members of staff to a base in Thetford's Market Place will boost revenue by a further £1m.

Director Simon Wooden said: 'We were doing a lot of work in Thetford and Watton from our Norwich office, tending to help with minimum wage jobs like factory workers, but also sourcing engineers.

'However we've seen an increase in demand around Thetford and so wanted to have a local presence to manage these jobs.'

He continued: 'Large firms are moving out of London because space up here is so much cheaper. We've recently worked with a company which initially wanted 10 to 15 members of staff, but in peak season that could go up to 40.

'This sort of work is popular in Thetford because you can still have a decent standard of living on minimum wage, and the closer it gets to Norwich the more expensive it is. It's a small town, but it's a busy town.'

In the first quarter since opening the Thetford office has turned over between £15,000 and £20,000 a week.

Mr Wooden and his team are hoping to open further offices in the coming years, with possible destinations being Cambridge, King's Lynn, Peterborough or Southend.

'It just makes sense to keep working up that A10 and A11 stretch. It's attractive to firms because the area has good access, both to the Midlands and to London but also to the docks at Felixstowe for international work,' he said.

However, expanding so fast in a matter of three years has not been easy.

'We'll definitely be looking to recruit some more management roles as we grow,' said Mr Wooden. 'Currently I'm working between Thetford and Norwich but we'll need to bring more people in.

'Luckily we know how to work hard but we also have fun, so people want to go the extra mile for the success of the business which has got us through.'