A FORMER Bolton Business Awards winner is taking his outfit international - and securing fresh footholds across the UK.

Dr Chris Houghton, who walked away with the Bolton News backed event's Business Person of the Year crown in 2014, has announced his technical business solutions provider Eventura is forming part of a partnership which is set to open an office in Malta,

His Westhoughton firm is one of only a handful working with leading cloud-based specialist Netsuite Global Business Unit, as the collective looks to forge new links in central Mediterranean markets.

Eventura will be providing Oracle Netsuite to a host of European companies, alongside Sage, echoing the kind of relationship it already has with blue-chip British names such as Rectella and Floorbrite.

This development comes in tandem with new satellite offices for the St George's House venture in Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, and Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham.

Dr Houghton said: "We are taking some major steps forward in 2019 and this includes partnering with NetSuite, which is highly influential in more than 100 countries.

"This move allows us to offer our clients a scaleable solution capable of handling multi-currency, multi-statutory and multi-lingual transactions and powering businesses from SME’s through to global corporations.

"We also want to better service our clients around the UK and so are also opening offices in Bletchley and Stockton-on-Tees with local staff recruited.

"The new office in Malta gives Eventura a Mediterranean base to expand our services, particularly cyber security, even further afield."

Other major names putting their faith in Eventura, which was formed 17 years ago and now employs around 30, include Umbro, Pringle and Jimmy Choo.

The company has also maintained its pedigree, clinching the Best IT Support Company title at last year's Manchester Business Awards.

Eventura was also behind a major cyber-security conference at the University of Bolton Stadium, staged last month, which attracted interest from across the region.

Six industry experts shared insights into a thorny issue which is expected to cost north west businesses millions on an annual basis.

Dr Houghton and the company has also pitched its hat into the sporting arena.

Before the new South Lancashire Counties Sunday League, the firm announced it would be sponsoring the kit for Pretoria FC. The Mill Street team is named in honour of the 1910 Pretoria Pit mining disaster, which claimed 344 lives.