AN IT firm says it will continue its expansion and create new jobs after a receiving £100,000 funding.

Affinity Systems will use the money to set up Rymote, a remote IT service, thanks to support from the Finance for Business North-East Proof of Concept (POC) Fund.

The company, based in Sunderland and founded by Al Yong in 2010, provides IT installation support for firms including BT and Cisco.

Mr Yong said: "We recognised there is a demand in the global market for accessible Cisco engineering skills and this is where the idea for Rymote stemmed from.

"This service means that we can work with customers located anywhere from our Sunderland base, while creating skilled jobs."

Rebecca Crawford, investment manager at Northstar Ventures, who manage the POC fund, said: "Affinity is on track to be a real success with new staff in the next year as demand for its services are ramped up."

The POC Fund is backed by the European Regional Development Fund and the European Investment Bank.