Virtual conferencing specialist Virtual iVent has opened a German office as part of its ambitious 12-month plan to reach sales of £1.2m.

The Leeds-based company has opened in Augsberg, near Munich in order to develop new European markets. It has also bought a stake in innovative Bristol-based webstreaming company iVIDiQ.

Managing director Gavin Newman said Virtual iVent – which is the European development partner of US software giant VenueGen – had organised 30 events for companies in the last year, in some cases cutting their costs by up to 90 per cent.

He said: “No-one knew about online shopping 10 years ago and look at that sector now. I’m envisaging another two years of hard work to get us to that level.

“The technology we have developed and brought together allows event hosts to gain more information with complete measurability within an event as well as being totally interactive.”

Newman added that Virtual iVent is currently working with the NHS to help cut its meetings costs: “We believe British business and organisations, like the NHS, could together save up to half a billion pounds a year by adopting the virtual approach.”

Pictured: A virtual exhibition stand