EAMONN Kilby and his team of painters and decorators are glad they splashed out on a new image, because it's brought them new contracts and an increase in staff.

K&S Painting Contractors, from Newport, was established 19 years ago and had built up a successful business, with thousands of customers throughout South Wales and the West Country.

But it has always strived for more. It looked to the Internet to broaden its reach and has achieved some amazing results.

The business generated online has led to K&S taking on four more staff, taking its payroll to 13.

It was all done through a website created for them by Yell.com, one of the UK's leading directory sites.

K&S partner Eamonn Kilby, pictured left with Keith Stokoe, said: "We realised that the Internet is not just for firms with nationwide or even global reach, nor is it just about selling goods online.

"It's not often that companies in our industry use the internet to boost business, but we have been delighted with the quantity and quality of local business leads we have achieved through building our online presence."

Like 1.7 million other businesses across the UK, K&S already benefited from a free listing on Yell.com, which provided contact details for the company as part of the search results page.

However, K&S decided to enhance its online presence by using Yell.com's Web Builder product to create its own website.

"As a small business we have been delighted with the service that we have received from Yell.com," said Mr Kilby.

"Recently we were taken on for a five-year job to decorate Companies House, a well-known business in Cardiff, and we have also secured contracts with other large business customers.

"In turn, this has meant we have been able to expand our workforce, which is great for the local community."

Yell.com designed and built a fully hosted site that lists company details and areas of expertise, as well as featuring photographs of previous work and a list of current clients.