REALITY, the business services group that employs more than 900 people in East Lancashire, has closed its first year of trading with a turnover of £476 million and a profit of £5.1 million.

The company was formed out of the restructuring of Great Universal Stores and provides internet, customer care and logistics services to UK companies.

In addition to working for other GUS companies such as Argos and Home Shopping, Reality provides services to a range of other businesses such as Readers Digest, QVC, Britannia Music and Barclaycard.

More than 800 people work at its customer contact centre in Burnley and a further 108 are employed at its Blackburn delivery depot. Reality employs a total of 20, 000.

Chief Executive Martin Trees said: "We have seen positive growth in our first year, securing work with over 20 companies and tackling a range of services so diverse that no one other UK company could handle them,

"It has also been a year of extreme challenges for a new business, involving the continuation of deliveries through floods, fuel protests and foot and mouth disease."