A WORCESTER business celebrated sprinting ahead of the competition with a special event involving former athlete Roger Black.

Warndon-based Misys General Insurance, which sells IT systems to insurance brokers, achieved revenues of £34m (up eight per cent) on 2004) and an operating profit of £16m, compared with £15m in 2004.

The results will enable the business to continue to expand, creating additional jobs for Worcester, although how many is not yet known. The company is already one of the city's biggest employers, with more than 300 workers.

To kick off the company's next financial year, former Olympic athlete Roger Black was invited as guest speaker to an annual staff event at Worcester Rugby Club.

He is one of Britain's most famous sports stars, having won 15 major championship medals in 14 years, and has become a popular speaker and television presenter.

Philip Bell, chief executive of Misys General Insurance, said: "2004/5 was again a highly successful year, thanks to the continued commitment and innovation shown by staff. New revenue and profit records were set and considerable progress was made against all of our targets.

"This will enable us to increase our spending on research and development and expand our workforce in Worcester.

"Each year we hold an event to reward individual achievement and outline our strategy."

for the next 12 months."

This year, we were delighted to have Roger Black as our guest speaker."