IT services and consulting provider Version 1 is to create 180 jobs by 2013.

The company said the new jobs would be based at its Dublin-based headquarters and at offices in Cork and Belfast.

The first 45 positions announced today are expected to be filled in the next three months.

The firm, which was founded in 1996, currently employs 265 staff.

Among the new positions being created over the next two years are a number of graduate roles as well as senior technology consultant positions.

The company said the new recruitment drive to meet the demands of new business and forecasted growth in excess of 30 per cent this year.

"As a 100 per cent Irish owned and managed company, we are delighted to be beating the recession and creating jobs,” said the firm's HR director Jarlath Dooley in a statement.

Version 1 booked a 13 per cent increase in turnover in 2010, while its operating profit more than doubled to €1.2 million. Earlier this year the firm forecast revenue growth of 35 per cent for 2011.

Turnover was up 30 per cent in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the same period last year and gross sales in March reached a record high in excess of €2 million.

Privately funded since its inception in 1996, Version 1's major shareholders are founders Justin Keatinge, John Mullen and company director Tom O'Connor. Anthuan Xavier is chairman of the firm.