A YORK-BASED telecoms company has undergone a major restructuring - and as a result is now poised to take on more staff.

Local Telecom Service Ltd (LTS), formed in September 1996 to provide maintenance services, has taken over its sister company, Kestrel Telecom, which has been selling and installing phone systems in and around York since 1986. Both are based at Auster Road, Clifton Moor Business Park.

The decision, taken on the advice of Business Link North Yorkshire, brings the two companies under one brand offering a full sales, installation and maintenance service.

Peter Hawkins, managing director of LTS, which launched Kestrel Telecom as a sole trader, said the two companies were kept separate because of legal difficulties. "But these had since been resolved and we were able to think in terms of merging."

He said that the new, streamlined company, under the Local Telecome Services Ltd banner, was expected to have a combined turnover of about £250,000 by the end of the financial year in June. "We intend to drive that up to about £350,000 for the next financial year."

It will also mean adding more staff to the existing nine on the payroll.

The restructuring was made with the help of Andy Barton, personal business adviser for Business Link North Yorkshire.

Through a series of business development workshops Mr Barton helped LTS re-value its development and marketing strategy in the light of massive upheavals taking place in the telecommunications industry.

The company decided to re-align itself to customers' changing needs by providing a comprehensive, responsive service through a unified organisation.

LTS has already recently expanded to take on the maintenance of a wide range of systems, including many BT-branded systems for which maintenance had previously been available only through BT itself.

Mr Barton said: "The LTS management is determined to provide the very best service of its kind and has demonstrated great foresight in taking this step.

"LTS will now be able to build on the reputation established by Kestrel Telecom over the past 15 years."