NVT, the Lanarkshire IT group, more than doubled profits last year on the back of its high-profile contracts to run the communications technology for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.

The firm has said it has secured contracts in 16 countries across four continents and expects to expand globally in 2015.

The Bellshill firm's latest accounts show a 15 per cent rise in revenue to £9m and profits jumping 160 per cent to £967,622.

Stephen Park Brown, managing director, said he expected turnover to hit £12m this year, and had set a target of £20m by 2020 as the firm expanded into the international sports technology market. NVT had already secured a contract to support the first European Games in Baku during 2015, Mr Park Brown added. "We are on track to deliver one of our strategic goals to increase our export turnover by a multiple of four over the next two years, capitalising on our increasing global brand value which is now recognised across the 71 Commonwealth countries and territories."

The company also paid three separate rounds of bonuses worth more than £100,000 throughout the year to reward staff who had worked on the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup.

NVT has recruited Murray Husband, technology supremo for Glasgow 2014, as it works on a planned bid to provide the IT for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia. Mr Park Brown said: "It's not in our back garden, the Gold Coast is a much bigger area, and we are thinking about partnering with some of the existing global companies but we are also looking at perhaps acquiring a small Australian business.

"We have been talking to our advisers over the past few months and looking at what we can do to bolster the company in the areas we want to be in."

He went on: "We realise that between now and 2022 just in this sports technology area there is a global spend we think we could tap into of circa £3billion - there are two Olympics, a couple of World Cups and two Commonwealth Games." On top of that were golfing events outside the European Tour, and a Formula 1 opportunity in Brazil, which NVT was investigating but would be unable to progress in the current year.

Mr Park Brown said that the company's growth has been built around delivering services across Europe, primarily to Scottish companies expanding abroad notably Murgitroyd , the global patent attorney practice headquartered in Scotland, and Clyde Blowers Capital.

"We have been the IT partner delivering ICT consultancy and managed services across Clyde Blowers' portfolio of companies which have a presence in more than 100 countries and have been assisting them following their acquisition of the Ferguson shipyard."

Mr Park Brown said: "Our innovative approach when tendering for the Commonwealth Games saw NVT hiring 15 modern apprentices, and we are committed to hiring a further 10 by April."

NVT, a past critic of Scotland's public procurement regime and its lack of opportunities for smaller companies, recently announced it would be signing up for the Living Wage. Mr Park Brown said: "Our community engagement and social responsibility is an integral part of the NVT ethos. Last year our chosen charity was the NSPCC Scotland and we were delighted to hand over to them a cheque for £10,000 after our apprentices scaled Ben Nevis. We almost doubled its annual charity donations to £ 67,717 in 2014.

"Our aim for 2015, via a Lanarkshire Schools project, is to increase the numbers climbing Ben Nevis this year to 100 thus trebling our donation to £ 30,000."