WHEN the worst happens and the firm you work for folds, employees often opt just to seek work elsewhere. But Steve Foley tells how such an event opened up a world of opportunity.

BUSINESSMAN Steve Foley is something of a rarity in today's world of commerce.

At the age of 35 and as managing director of his own successful computer firm, Blackburn-based Envision Technologies, Steve values morality over materialism and has worked for only one other company in his career. Having started out at a technology firm in Ramsbottom, where he worked for nine years, Steve came home from holiday one summer to find the company had gone bust, making its entire workforce redundant.

Steve had worked hard, installing networks and dealing face-to-face with clients, while also undertaking a series of demanding professional studies and exams, before qualifying as a Certified Netware Engineer in 1993.

"Working at that particular company gave me an excellent grounding in computer systems," said Steve. "More importantly, though, it showed me that financial stability and longevity are integral to the success of a business."

So when the inevitable finally happened and his employer was no more, Steve, along with three of his colleagues, recognised that there were three realistic options.

"It was either roll over and die, go and work for someone else, or set up on our own," he said. "We knew that we were capable of providing a professional service based on integrity, and the industry was missing that level of support, so we decided we had nothing to lose."

So they went for it and the partners found premises at the Blackburn Technology Management Centre on the Greenbank Technology Park and, in 1997, Envision Technologies was born.

Now run by just Steve and director of operations, Paul Burke, the firm employs four members of staff and specialises in designing, building, maintaining and supporting computer networks for businesses of all sizes.

Steve wears a number of different hats, with responsibility for sales, marketing, account management, finance and human resources.

He also spends a significant amount of time examining the ICT marketplace and evaluating new products to introduce to the firm.

Building enduring, ethical client relationships is a major part of what drives Steve, and this attitude that recently saw Envision win a three-year, £2 million deal with a local council.