COMPUTER company Lindy has bucked the global technology downturn and announced it is expanding across the Atlantic.

The Teesside firm, which specialises in connection technology, has set up offices and warehousing in Huntsville, Alabama.

It will use the base to establish e-commerce facilities to take a range of cables, networking accessories and other computer peripherals to customers in the US market.

Darren Casey, managing director of Lindy said: "The American market for computer peripherals is still the biggest in the world, and now that Lindy is thoroughly established in Europe and beyond, this is the next logical step for us."

Industry body Comscore recently reported annual e-commerce sales for last year in the US of $73.2bn - £44.86bn. Online sales of computer hardware make up more than $10bn - £6.13bn - of this total, making hardware the biggest category apart from travel.

Lindy's UK customers include Tesco and Amazon.co.uk, and it registered record figures last year against a backdrop of decline in world technology markets.