A DIGITAL business has grown 100 per cent year on year and is now edging towards a £1m turnover.

James Pennington, managing director of Viral Effect, based in Boho 4, Middlesbrough, started his career selling lollies at secondary school and progressed to selling club tickets for commission while at Teesside University.

The experience encouraged him to set up his first business – Compare the Club – and worked closely with local Domino's pizza shops.

His marketing was so successful that more Domino branches gave him contracts to handle their social media and data collection. On the back of this, he and Mike Racz set up Viral Effect in 2012.

The company, which employs 20 staff, now handles digital engagement for 300 Dominos outlets both locally and nationally, processing 18,000 inbound tweets a month. Eighty per cent of tweets are replied to in under five minutes and the service covers 91 hours a week.

Mr Pennington said: "The growth of my business has been tremendous over the past four years. Almost by accident we have been at the forefront of helping fast-paced businesses really get the benefit of social media. Statistics show clearly that a high proportion of sales are now on-line via mobile phones, so we are perfectly placed to help our clients fully exploit this customer preference through our social media expertise."

The business even reached Delhi in India where Viral Effect had a contract with Nandos, whose franchisee already had experience of the company’s work with Dominos. It is also working closely with other major brands including CEX and Anytime Fitness gyms.

Mr Pennington recently bought into Eighty8 Design, a Middlesbrough graphic design and web development business he has worked closely with and which complements his company’s digital services.

In the future, he wants Viral Effect to focus on business to business messaging, particularly via twitter and sees potential for growth in the hospitality industry.

He joined the North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) to gain access to other businesses and find out what services and products are available on his doorstep.

Tom Warnock, NECC relationship manager, said: "It is always good news when an entrepreneur creates a business and is able to expand on its home patch, creating new jobs as well."