They say it's an ill wind turns none too good but for my friend Roger Clifton-Moore there are new opportunities when disaster threatens.

In the late Eighties, Hill Samuel made him redundant after 20 years.

This turned out to be a bit of luck as the company provided some consultancy work which was the beginning of a new career.

The nature of employment has changed.

There are few jobs for life and some great companies like ICI struggle to find new markets and the money to honour pension commitments.

It is little wonder a growing number become self-employed.

Many consultants work from home as do an increasing number of engineers, builders, architects and designers.

In the past ten years Roger has built a successful and profitable business in Brighton.

His firm, Recovery Management International, has an impressive list of clients, including Barclays Bank, Credit Lyonnais, Rugby Cement and Greenwood Solicitors.

Roger and his colleagues are expert in risk assessment and business continuity planning and will draw up plans of what a company should do in the event of fire, flood, explosion or terrorist attack.

There are other hazards - disaffected staff can wreck a computer system and take out the debtors list.

The company's objective is to ensure that clients can provide an acceptable standard of service in any circumstance.

Roger's advice is to back up computer data and store it off site and develop a continuity strategy and business continuity plan.

If you want to know more, call 07860 438267.

Wednesday April 2 2003