When MG Rover collapsed in April 2005, like many other suppliers, Solihull-based IT services company Infrasys could have been in serious trouble.

MG Rover was its second biggest customer and accounted for 25 per cent of sales.

Instead, just two years later, Infrasys has doubled its turnover, broadened its service and product portfolio, developed a new client base, expanded into Ireland – and in the process has found work for 12 former MG Rover staff.

Managing director Peter McCormack said: "We have a long history of working in the motor industry and until 2005 most of our work was focused on Jaguar & Land Rover and MG Rover.

"When MG Rover crashed it forced us to take a long hard look at our business; we realised that the capabilities which had enabled us to succeed in the motor industry had real value, and that we needed to get out and start selling on a wider front."

The company, which until then had specialised in managing large UNIX server and workstation environments as well as enterprise back-up & storage, has broadened its portfolio.

Building on its data storage expertise, Infrasys has become the UK’s most successful re-seller of EqualLogic iSCSI storage area networks, supplying in recent months installations to, among others, two police forces and one of Britain’s fastest growing printing companies.

Infrasys, who can be found at – www.infrasys.co.uk|http://www.website.com – has also developed a project and consultancy service and undertaken a number of significant projects in the last year, including the complete re-engineering of the IT infrastructure for Hampshire based Peverel Group.

This project included the redesign and upgrade of the data network and the construction of a new computer room at Peverel’s Luton site.

Infrasys has also developed a technical resourcing capability supplying highly skilled IT personnel to work on clients’ sites as part of the clients’ IT teams. The company has set up a support capability in Ireland, where it will be exhibiting at the Technology 4 Business ‘07 Show in Dublin.

The company has also developed a customer base in the aerospace, telecoms, and services sectors, where its expertise in engineering & managing large scale IT infrastructure has proved very attractive.

Mr McCormack said: "Very often you find that it’s the big IT vendors who have experience of managing large and complex IT infrastructure – and they tend to be less flexible and have high overheads.

"Infrasys is different because, although we have years of experience operating IT infrastructure in the complex and demanding environment of the car industry, we are also relatively small and highly flexible in our approach."

He believes it is these qualities that have enabled Infrasys to build up its relationship with Jaguar and Land Rover, where it runs a UNIX infrastructure of some 400 servers and more than 1800 workstations.

Mr McCormack added "It is ironic that it took the collapse of MG Rover to really make us understand the growth potential of our business and the value of our capabilities – and interestingly, in growing the business, we have managed to provide work for 12 former MG Rover staff who lost their jobs when the company collapsed.