SOMETIMES its good to be bad, as IT student Brett Hollis found out.

"At college I decided to take a computer course, but found it rather slow and boring," he said. "So one lunchtime a friend and I hacked into the college IT systems so we could play on-line games at lunchtimes. However, it wasn't long before we were caught and so incensed was the tutor, we were asked to leave the class.

"But all this brought attention from outside the campus and a successful local IT firm heard about it and offered me a job as an IT apprentice. So, at the tender age of 17, I left college to pursue alternative IT qualifications and working on YTS at £65/week, I started to build some of the first Intel Pentium PC’s running Windows 95, in the UK."

That was the start of the Hollis career in computers, which saw him working in various local IT departments, before being made deputy manager at a company in Monmouthshire. In 2004 he went self employed and has now set up his own premises called Worcester Computers, which operates from Ombersley Road, near the former Northwick cinema.

"I feel there is a gap in the market, especially in Worcester, for independents to provide good home computer support, as a true alternative to the big companies," Mr Hollis explained. "Many IT companies target a business customer, indeed that’s where the big money is, but I found my passion was elsewhere, having worked for corporates for the better part of a decade. Like so many IT and internet companies founded in the late 90s, Worcester Computers started with a guy in a spare room with a mission. In my case it was my parents spare room when I had had to move back home. Disappointed with what I had experienced first hand by way of IT support and the poor quality of service, I set out with a goal to create a first class IT service for home computer users and home based businesses alike.

"As a local, family run business, we are always striving to go the extra mile to deliver the best customer service, and value for money that we possibly can. We are enthusiastic, forward thinking and totally love what we do. We believe this shines through in our work ethic, and we have many satisfied customers who agree with us."

The class tutor obviously did him a favour all those years ago.