Funding comprises £200,000 from Royal Bank of Scotland-owned NatWest bank, £150,000 from venture capital provider Merseyside Special Investment Fund’s (MSIF) Merseyside Loan and Equity Fund, the remainder private investment.

Royal Bank of Scotland also owns ScoLocate, set up in dotcom boom days, with an increased investment to double capacity at its Edinburgh outskirts site. But currently the Scolocate web site  carries very little news of business or new developments.

AIMES was set up by Prof Dennis Kehoe in 2005 as a spin out from the University of Liverpool. It began trading in 2008 and has grown rapidly, securing a range of clients including Park Group Financial Services, Novartis Vaccines, Transactis, Perkins Engines, and The Institute of Child Health and Human Time A/S (Denmark).

Prof Kehoe said: “This investment will enable us to create cutting-edge cloud computing facilities. The improved infrastructure will give significant advantages to customers including improved levels of energy efficiency, cost savings and increased resilience.”

Work on the facility will start soon and take about 16 weeks to complete.

“MSIF were our preferred investor and we are delighted to have them on board. They provided a great service and the whole deal was co-ordinated extremely well with RBS who have also been terrific partners.”

MSIF investment director Paul Humphray said: “AIMES is a leader in its field and plays an importantrole in making new technologies accessible to businesses, especially local small firms who may otherwise get left behind. It is also ensuring that Liverpool is recognised across the UK as a centre of excellence for digital provision.”

AIMES expect to reach over £1m turnover this year, expected to treble over the next two years. Employing 15 staff it expects to recruit a further eight more within two years.