The opportunities provided by the deregulation of telecoms have been seized by Mike Thornley and Peter German, co-founders of Onebill. The company is a virtual operator that takes over line and call services usually offered by BT and offers customers alternative packages. Most of its clients are small businesses. Sales at the Worthing company grew 66% a year from an annualised £2m in 2000 to £8.9m in 2003.