The listed IT recruiter MSB has bought the technology agency Elite Computer Staff for £1.25m.

Elite started trading in 1992 and made pre-tax profits of £28,108 in the year to December 2003. It employs 20 staff and is based in New Malden, Surrey.

It specialises in technology permanent recruitment but also provides contractors to businesses across the UK. MSB will make a further maximum cash payment of £200,000.

MSB has also appointed Recruiter award winner Sarah Anderson CBE as non-executive director.

Anderson is currently chief executive of the catering recruiter Mayday Group and was formerly a director of the Federation of Recruitment and Employment Services (FRES), the REC's predecessor.

MSB's interim results revealed the firm made pre-tax profits of £272,000 in the six months ended in July 2004 – a 200% increase compared with the £58,000 generated in the same period last year.