Unipart is showing the value of diversification in industry.

The future for the Oxford company looked uncertain when it lost the contract to supply parts to the Rover car company, with which it had been associated for many years.

But now it has bounced back, with profits of £18m equalling those it was reporting in the late 1990s.

Far from lying back and accepting the inevitable, Unipart decided to fight back and turn misfortune into triumph.

It has used the expertise it built up in the car industry to expand into other fields, with encouraging results.

It now has a wide range of new customers and is reaping the benefits, re-establishing itself as a jewel in the city's commercial crown.