The Apprentice winner Joesph Valente sells Peterborough-based ImpraGas

Joseph Valente celebrating winning The Apprentice with Lord Sugar.

ImpraGas, the fastest growing boiler installation company in the UK, has been acquired by investment company REL Capital, which is already the owner of two transport companies in Peterborough.

The award-winning ImpraGas employs 70 people at its head office in Yaxley and has an annual turnover of £10 million with recent sales reaching £1 million a month.

It was founded in 2012 by Joseph Valente who went on to win the hit TV show The Apprentice in 2015, gaining Lord Sugar as a business partner in the process.

He was the first winner to buy back his shares from Lord Sugar after just two years working together and went on to take ImpraGas to national success.

Mr Valente (30) said: "Starting out as a ‘one man and a van’ business in 2012, I was so proud to win The Apprentice show three years later and go into partnership with Lord

Sugar. I learnt a lot from the great man and owe him a debt of gratitude.

"He fuelled my ambition which led to me buying him out - on my pathway to building a national business.

“My ambition was achieved this year with ImpraGas now established as one of the biggest boiler installation companies in the UK - recognised by the accolade in winning National

Installer of the year at the prestigious National Energy Efficiency Awards.”

ImpraGas is the sixth company acquisition in the last 12 months for REL Capital owned by serial entrepreneur Andy Scott.

REL aim to grow ImpraGas and move offices to its 180,000 sq ft, seven acre estate in Orton Southgate, Peterborough, where it already operates a £20 million turnover transport business RelTransport.com with 80 trucks and overseen by CEO of Investments Adam Lewis.

Mr Scott said: “We are really pleased to add ImpraGas to our portfolio.

" It’s especially exciting for me to buy in Peterborough as our transport head office and management team are based there.

"We were very impressed with the work Joseph Valente has done in building the business into a £10 million turnover company and wish him all the success in the world

with his new ventures.

"Just as Mr Valente started out as a plumber and worked his way up to CEO, I also started out running building sites by day and worked as a nightclub bouncer by night. I’m very much looking forward to taking ImpraGas to the next level, competing with British Gas.”