According to a statement, the deal, made for an undisclosed amount, is worth £435,000 annually and has been made as part of Gradwell’s plans to extend its customer base into the consumer and education markets.

Solutions is a reseller store for global technology business Apple in the UK, selling products such as computers, iPods and accessories.

The ISP business being acquired by Gradwell allows local authorities (LAs) to provide support for pupil referral units by supplying access to the internet.

Peter Gradwell, founder and managing director of Gradwell, says that the business has seen growth of 30 per cent for ‘some time’, and that on the back of the businesses strong financials it is now looking to acquire businesses as part of its growth strategy.

He adds: ‘Whilst our focus will remain the small to medium sized businesses in the UK, I’m really pleased that both our panel of suppliers and market reach is expanding.

‘We’ve been looking at the education market for some time and believe our products offer public sector bodies the right combination of flexibility, reliability and cost savings. This acquisition takes Gradwell right to the door of LAs.’

Speaking to M&A Deals in April Gradwell said that he had recently found it hard to secure financing for deals to expand his business.

He said: ‘If you are a fast growing business and you don’t have a very strong balance sheet like us there is not a lot of security [for the lender].’