A TECHNOLOGY company has warned a contract snub will stymie its growth.

Stadium Group expects full-year results to drop below market expectations after a customer moved work in-house.

The Hartlepool-based firm is known for designing and making vehicle control panels, wireless devices and electronic displays.

But officials have been dealt a blow after a wireless telematics operator took on design work and switched manufacturing elsewhere.

Experts at corporate advisor N+1 Singer pushed back full-year pre-tax profit forecasts from £5.5m to £4.3m upon the announcement.

However, Stadium bosses say they remain confident of achieving strong growth in 2017, highlighting a strong order book that features a £5m deal to make so-called black box systems that help monitor car insurance premiums.

They also hailed its technology products division, which focuses on control panels used by rail, medical and broadcast operators, and touch screen devices, such as bus timetables, saying demand remains robust.

The business is remodelling itself from a solely electronic manufacturing services firm to a design-led business and last month opened a creative centre in Sweden.

But Charlie Peppiatt, chief executive at the company, which employs more than 100 people in Hartlepool, said its drive to launch more centres of excellence came too late for its departed client.

He said: “We are disappointed and there’s no doubt this sets us back temporarily in terms of our ambitions for growth.

“Frustratingly the establishment of our new regional design centres didn’t happen quickly enough for this particular customer.

“The loss will result in a delay to our anticipated growth and full-year results for 2016 are now expected to be below market expectations.

“However, (the customer loss) reinforces our belief in building strong design capabilities in the right locations and we are confident we now have teams in place to drive the significant growth expected in 2017 and beyond.”

Earlier this year, Stadium revealed it had extended a contract with telematics operator Trak Global Solutions to make black box systems.

Officials said the devices are fitted to vehicles to assess driving styles, encouraging motorists to be safer, which can benefit insurance premium levels.

Stadium also previously spent £6.5m to take on power supply unit and transformer maker Stontronics in a bid to strengthen its technology products division, and has bases in China and Hong Kong.