Heydar Faramarzi's software development and services company has been running for just over a year. But already it has a multimillion-pound contract with Alcatel-Lucent and a partner company in the Netherlands, which has invested in the business.

Emnico Technologies is also a model company for these credit-strapped times. It has no borrowings. Established by 13 IT specialists whose department had been cut from a larger business, the company has been funded by their personal money and the investment from the Dutch company, with whom Emnico accesses work in Germany and Belgium. The company, which has 20 employees, also reinvests some of its earnings and is developing new products.

Mr Faramarzi, an irrepressible optimist with a passion for technology, says that he hopes to expand the business by riding the trend towards businesses outsourcing their IT provision and for outside companies providing managed IT support remotely. "If you see the IT guy then something is wrong. We want businesses to never see us but for everything to run smoothly."

He believes that there will always be a need for IT providers and the more sophisticated technology becomes, potentially the need increases.

Like many high-tech start-up companies, Emnico chose to locate in Swindon partly because that is where the larger companies that spawned the software firm are based, partly because of the cheaper office rents compared with some other Thames Valley locations, and partly because of the skills pool the town attracts. In common with many businesses, Emnico's employees are nearly all commuters, with most of them coming in from Bristol, Bath and Malmesbury.