A YOUNG entrepreneur has launched a new business which should create jobs locally.

Nineteen-year-old Matthew Larcome has set up TeckForce which removes viruses from home and business computers.

Based at the Innovation Centre, at Norden House, Basing View, Basingstoke, Matthew and his small team have been developing the business with the backing of HSBC.

TeckForce allows customers to sign up for its services in advance so that if their computer’s anti-viral software fails to prevent an infection, a technician can be called to eliminate it.

Currently, technicians will visit clients person-ally, but soon TeckForce will be able to offer its service remotely within minutes following a phone call.

Matthew got the idea of the business after his own computer was infected with a virus.

He said: “When your computer gets a virus and your anti-virus software fails to sort things out, it’s your responsibility to have the virus removed which can be very stressful, inconvenient and expensive.

“Each week there are over 800 new viruses on the internet which puts individuals and small businesses at huge risk, even if they have anti-virus software or firewall protection installed on their computer.”

TeckForce offers a 24-hour assistance helpline and free online support for a monthly subscrip-tion.

Matthew is currently on the lookout for new recruits to complement the 15 full and part-time staff he currently employs.

He has high hopes for the business, which he plans to go national. He hopes to be employing up to 600 people in three years.

It is not the first business the young entrepren-eur has launched. Back in 2009, he set up a social enterprise called Student Startup, which is still a going concern, to encourage young people aged between 14 and 25 to set up their own business.

That was the former BCoT business studies student’s eighth business. He started honing his entrepreneurial skills when he was 11, selling confectionery to his schoolmates at what was to become Cranbourne Business and Enterprise College.

Since then, he has learned from various business ventures, sold a print and leaflet distribution company and has even written a 140-page book called Student Startup: The Essential Guide to Starting a Business.