Connect Electronics, the Dublin-based distributor of board-level electronics and computer peripherals, plans a $9 million expansion (€9.72 million) this year and hopes to double its staff before the end of the year.

Connect is investing $5 million in its office in Largo, Florida, where it plans to hire 10 more sales and support staff. The company is also investing $4 million in its Dublin office, where it hopes to double staff numbers to 30.

Set up in 1993, Connect's revenues have ballooned from $1 million to a projected $80 million this year.

More than 80 per cent of Connect's revenues come from the US, Britain, France, Germany and countries in the Far East.