Outsourcing human resources firm Deminos has secured £500,000 from Northstar Ventures in what is its third round of funding.

The business, which away from its Gateshead headquarters also has offices in London, Leeds and Manchester, was founded in 2007 by Neil Atkinson.

Deminos is set to use the funding create ‘a number of new jobs’ including HR consultants and administration staff.

As well as increasing hirings, Deminos also hopes to double its sales from £500,000 to over £1 million.

Atkinson comments, ‘The business started out with just my wife and me but now we employ 17 people full-time.

‘We’re doubling in size every year and we want to keep that rate going. This latest funding is really to pay for marketing and to bring in some extra sales staff because it has just been me for the past five years.’

Northstar first backed Deminos in April 2010 when it provided £100,000 of funding. It then followed it up with a second round of £75,000 in December 2010 and is the company’s only investor.

Rebecca Crawford, fund manager at Northstar, adds, ‘Consultants are currently very busy advising companies looking to restructure their operations.

‘But as the economy picks up, the jobs market will see growth and Deminos is ideally placed to take advantage of this.

Through Finance for Business, Northstar Ventures’ accelerator fund is supported by the European Regional Development Fund and European Investment Bank.