ANSWERING an emergency call has led to a fledgling IT consultancy clinching a maintenance and advice contract with its first plc client.

Bingley-based Advancery Ltd., has been signed up to help maintain and develop Safestyle UK’s IT systems across its main sites in Bradford and Barnsley.

The initial one year contract with the UK’s largest uPVC window and door manufacturer and installer comes after Advancery helped fix a network fault which threatened to disrupt Safestyle’s customer service system.

The firm answered a call for help from Safestyle’s IT department following a sudden network slowdown which resulted in major problems accessing and using the company’s customer service system.

Safestyle IT chief Martin Abraham said: “This was a serious problem for our communications which we needed to resolve quickly and Advancery immediately responded to our request to find the cause. Our normal service was resumed in less than 24 hours and we were extremely impressed with the team’s prompt action, and the additional bonus fix of a back-up related issue which Advancery solved as part of their solution to the slowdown.”

Safestyle, which has annual sales of more than £124 million. contacted Advancery which had previously supplied it with hardware and software.

Advancery director Alex Mordey, who launched the business in 2014, said the contract marked its first deal with a stock-market listed client and was a landmark breakthrough for the business.

He said: “This was a reactive project to fix an immediate issue that had the potential to disrupt Safestyle’s business. It was the perfect opportunity for our team to demonstrate our technical prowess to Safestyle, and we’re delighted with the longer term outcome.”

Before the incident, Safestyle had decided to find an external IT support partner to work with its in-house team to safeguard its systems and provide procurement advice about emerging technologies.

Martin Abraham said: “You could say this was perfect timing for Advancery as we had just started headline searches for an IT support partner, someone who could help us keep on top of the changing technology landscape and who we could work with us to ensure we’re getting the best out of our current and future IT investments.

“Advancery demonstrated their technical ability and professional approach when they answered our call for help at short notice, and we were impressed with the way they do business. They’re a friendly team to work with, and so far their advice and solutions have been spot on.”

Based at the Cottingley Business Park , Advancery was a finalist in the new business category of the 2015 Bradford Means Business awards .