Staff who lost their jobs when an Oxford computer training firm went into receivership have set up a new company.

Andi Sheeka, right, one of the seven directors of C7 Solutions, with Jane Gregory, of Itex Education, which is providing training for the new firm's clients

About 50 people lost their jobs earlier this year when John Bryce Training's head office at Cowley Business Park was closed and new owner Xpertise focused on the London market.

Now seven of them have formed C7 Solutions, with premises at Milton Park, Abingdon.

One, Peter Williams, said: "After the receivers were called in the business was closed down very abruptly.

"No-one wanted to buy it as a going concern as it would have meant taking on the debts.

"C7 Solutions was already being formed at that time as we saw the writing on the wall and when the company collapsed it was our prompt to take it over and we started trading almost immediately."

The staff at C7 Solutions -- Paul Quinn, Andi Sheeka, Brian Reid, Chris Cox, Waheed Ahmed, Emma Clarke and Peter Williams -- are all directors of the new firm on an equal basis.

They can all act as consultants and trainers as well as being able to call on the services of freelance trainers.

C7 Solutions has already managed to land some big names, such as BT and Microsoft, to deliver tailored information technology training programmes to staff.

It has contracts as far afield as Japan and Turkey.

C7 Solutions has also linked up with IT firm Itex in the Channel Islands and is organising training for clients to be carried out in the beautiful surroundings of Guernsey.

The focus for C7 Solutions is delivering training on the latest developments in the IT industry.

Mr Williams added: "This is an increasingly competitive market that does not stand still.

"Any sort of innovation has a definite lifetime -- we don't want to be doing it six months after that lifetime has expired.

"We always focus on the next thing. Once something becomes current, we are moving away from it."