A funeral director whose family business was snatched from him in a hostile takeover has battled back to see his new firm become one of the fastest-growing companies in the UK.

Eight years ago, Colin Field was told to clear his desk after the firm that had been in his family for six generations was taken over by Texan Service Corporation International.

He refused to be beaten and six years ago decided to set up his own firm from scratch.

Started in a corner of his study at his home in West Hoathly, near Haywards Heath, the Traditional Family Funeral Company now has 25 branches across Sussex, London and the South-East.

Based in Ardingly, the annual turnover is more than £4 million and funeral numbers have gone up more than 100 per cent in the last four years.

Last week, the firm was ranked fifth in the top 100 fastest growing businesses in the UK in Real Business magazine.

This success is especially sweet for Colin, 54, as he lost not only his job but his life's history in the takeover.

He said: "Revenge is a dish best eaten cold. In some people's minds I had been born with a silver spoon in my mouth.

"Now it's all down to me. I was determined to prove I could do it."

Colin lived, breathed and slept the business, working 18 hours a day, seven days a week.

He said: "I worked every waking moment. It was a tremendous strain on the family but my wife, Christine, and my children were wonderful."

For almost 250 years the Field family has carried out the last requests of thousands of people, from princes to paupers.

The original family business, JD Field and Son, was started in the 1800s by John Dyer Field, Colin's great-great-great-grandfather.

The company's reputation as the most prestigious in the UK was sealed when Ernest Field oversaw the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901.

Colin believes the secret of their success is focusing on the people rather than the business.

He said: "I am overwhelmed by this ranking - it came out of the blue. I've never looked at the business in those terms - I just consider I'm running a family affair.

"I cannot drive forward on my own. This is a people business and my role to a large extent is to make sure people working within this company have no niggles of any sort, domestic or commercial."

*Wednesday April 2 2003