MD has opened a new Exeter Office headed by Rok’s former maintenance project coordinator in the area Mark Taylor.

The new office is in a building once occupied by another collapsed contractor Michael Thorne Construction.

Taylor has hired 11 of his former Rok colleagues to run the business.

He told the Exeter Express and Echo: “I had worked for Rok for eight years and in November I got the message that we had gone into administration.

“I had to let all my staff go on the Tuesday night. Then on Thursday I got a call from MD director Steve Devlin asking me to meet him.”

Within hours plans were in motion to establish a base in Exeter and Taylor  approached his former clients about MD taking over from Rok.

The biggest contract secured so far is a £400,000 a year maintenance deal with housing association Guinness Hermitage and the Exeter branch is on track to record a turnover of £1.4m this year.

Robert Stronge, director of asset management at Guinness Hermitage, said: “MD Building Services has worked with Guinness Hermitage in the Bristol area since 2005, so when they offered to step in we were delighted to have a known quality company to support our Devon residents.”

Steve Devlin said: “Not only did we continue to service our important client and support their residents in Exeter and Torquay, but we were also able to retain and employ key personnel from the previous provider, hopefully giving them and their families much brighter prospects than they were facing.”

Another former Rok employee is Tracey Thomas, now MD’s assistant operations manager in Exeter.

She said: “After 13 years with my previous employer, I was devastated when I received a text message from a colleague at 7am to tell me we had gone into administration.

“I didn’t know which way to turn as they had been my only employer since I joined them from college. I couldn’t believe my luck when I was given the opportunity to join MD Building Services, keep carrying out the same role and continue to work with my team.”