BUSINESS communications specialist Knowledge IT has marked the second stage of its £5m investment programme with the opening of a disaster support centre.

The company opened the £1.3m North Tyneside Data and Business Recovery Centre in Silverlink, near Wallsend.

It is the second of three data and business recovery centres that Knowledge IT will operate under a three-year expansion plan.

A facility on Wearside has been running since 2004 and plans are being finalised to open a third at the company's Washington head offices next summer.

The 10,000sq ft facility at Silverlink - partly funded by a £150,000 grant from development agency One NorthEast - enables companies to store offsite back-up copies of electronic documents and data.

Customers will be able to access information in the event of a flood, fire, human error, terrorist attack or computer virus Martin Coleman, managing director of Knowledge IT, said: "Silverlink is a major investment for us and is another big step forward in our growth strategy."