AN Andover-based motor-sport entrepreneur, who has established his business as the UK's largest indoor go-karting company, is celebrating impressive results after a year of success.

Despite falling consumer spending and intense competition, Team Sport has increased profits 17-fold in the last year from £21,000 to more than £360,000.

The achievement comes just two years after the business posted a £100,000 loss. Team Sport founder and owner Paul Wrightman attributes the milestone to three key factors - focussed sales and marketing, a great team and his decision to join Vistage International, the world's leading chief executives' organisation which has 15,000 members globally.

Mr Wrightman, aged 48, developed his first track in 1990, backed by investment of £90,000. The company now employs more than 200 full and part-time staff, operating across six sites in the south of England and Wales.

When he joined Vistage in October 2005, Team Sport was making a loss of more than £100,000, despite turning over £2.4m.

Since attending Vistage's intensive monthly development sessions in which CEOs and MDs act as each other's non-executive directors and robustly challenge each other, Mr Wrightman can now step outside of the day-to-day running and work on the business.

He said: "Transforming the venture from a loss maker into a highly profitable enterprise over the last three years has been extremely challenging.

"Our success is due to the tremendous buy-in' from staff and the way in which we have raised our game to ensure our professionalism and processes permeate every area of the business."

"Vistage enabled me to examine and evaluate every segment of my company, investigating how each one could be improved for customers and generate greater returns on investment."