Zentek Forensics, Bolton

TWO police officers resigned from the force after they spotted a gap in the market to supply high-quality forensic examination of mobile phones and computer records.

They set up Bolton-based Zentek Forensics in 2004 using their extensive knowledge of police procedures and prosecution needs to offer a tailored digital evidence service.

John McConnell and Andrea Bradley were originally abusive images officers within Greater Manchester Police, using their forensic skills to collate evidence relating to child abuse cases on mobile phones, computers and across the internet.

They have been so successful that the company’s turnover has doubled every year and in addition to police work, they also offer their services to corporate bodies and legal firms.

Managing director Andrea Bradley said: “Due to a couple of highly publicised national child abuse cases, the abusive images unit could not cope with the amount of work required and computers were outsourced to private, unregulated companies for examination.

“The quality of the work produced by these companies was poor in relation to what the police required to prosecute and the cost was prohibitive.

“We decided to resign from the police and set up a company offering a professionally tailored service to law enforcement.

“The vision was to provide the police with digital evidence reports which contained everything they would require for a prosecution report. Zentek now carries out investigations for eight police forces and undertakes work for other law enforcement bodies like Trading Standards, customs and legal and corporate organisations.

Zentek has investigated more than 1,000 child abuse cases in the past few years. Zentek Forensics aims to be a highly profitable business and be recognised by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) as the setter of national standards for customer service excellence in the supply of digital forensics.