A TELECOMMUNICATIONS company helped a Billingham-based logistics company after cable thieves disabled its entire communications system.

Devereux Transport, a long-standing customer of Odyssey Systems, was unable to answer customer calls, access databases or maintain contact with its 120 drivers.

Thieves had cut through 2,400 individual cables and stole more than 70m of copper wiring, but after getting in touch with Odyssey, engineers had installed a 4G system within two hours, which provided a quick and temporary solution that minimised downtime.

Borne from a business created by a 14 year-old, Devereux has become one of the UK’s leading transport and distribution businesses, offering a comprehensive service tailored to meet the needs of its wide-ranging client base.

Mike Odysseas, managing director at Odyssey Systems, said: "We were able to react quickly and assist Devereux at a time of crisis by using a temporary measure, which allowed operations to carry on as normal, until a permanent system was installed.

"We pride ourselves on response time and understand how important business communications are – being a regional supplier gives us the ability to react swiftly and sets us apart from competitors."

Chris Pickles, Deveraux's commercial manager, said: "With a fleet of more than 100 vehicles in operation, any time without communication has the potential to set us back, both in terms of time and money.

"As with any service sector business, we aim to deliver exceptional customer service, and had Odyssey not responded so effectively we would have potentially disappointed a number of customers."