The Middletown area of Pembroke is not best known for thriving hi-tech industries.

But brothers Ken and Tyrone Butterfield aim to change that view with their company Ascendant Technologies.

The brothers, both qualified in IT and both former civil servants, run the company from their home in Middletown Lane — and are giving young people from the area a chance to get into the tech industry on the ground floor.

Now the company has expanded from contract providing cabling set-ups for CableVision, now part of Logic, into trenching work with the purchase of their own excavator.

Ken Butterfield, 38, said: “We are subcontractors and IT consultants, contracting for CableVision and Logic — we do all the rewiring of lines and setting up for their customers.”

The pair — who now employ four full-time and four part-time staff, many of them from their extended family — started the company in 2008 and have gone from strength to strength.

Ken Butterfield said: “We used to do IT consultancy for the Ministry of Education. They started running out of money, so we started looking for other opportunities.

“I heard there was a loophole in CableVision as far as getting the lines running and we’ve built a great relationship with them and we’re very grateful to CableVision — we wouldn’t be where we are without them.”

The firm now compete for trenching work for Logic and power firm Belco.

Tyrone Butterfield, 37 and CEO of the firm, said: “Rather than having two or three people, we have a one-stop shop. We can go in and get everything done on the same day if required.”

And the two — who completed their IT education at the same college in the US with the help of scholarships and have certification from the Project Management Institute — are committed to helping others get on the ladder to success.

Ken Butterfield said: “We teach our guys skills they would never get a chance to learn — things like setting up internet, cabling, wifi and how to run a line.”

He added: “Our number one priority is customer service. Our number two priority is providing whatever service the customer wants.”

Tyrone Butterfield said: “Some customers need education. One customer put it best when she said ‘I’ve got a smart TV, but I’m dumb’ and we do that side as well.”

In addition to cabling and trenching, the company offers computer installation and repair, software and hardware, as well as security system and CCTV installation.

Ken Butterfield said: “We have had our ups and downs, especially with the economy. That’s why we’ve pursued other areas of technical expertise.”

He added: “Most of staff members are family members — 75 per cent of our staff are family. The rest are guys who deserve a chance. We give them an internship and we take it from there. One of our guys has just moved to a BTC internship and what he did with us helped him achieve that.”

And he said: “Our little brother Michael Keni Douglas is in charge of our internet division and he’s 21. He’s done all the America’s Cup teams.”

Ken Butterfield added: “We are expanding our trenching division and we’ve just acquired an excavator. There are companies out there who do trenching, but they only do trenching. We can install the lines and get everything running.”

Tyrone Butterfield said: “It’s good to see people get a chance, not just the private school kids.

“We are doing line faults for Belco as well. We’re expanding that side too.”

Ken Butterfield said: “We didn’t have any money — my family couldn’t afford to pay for me to go to college.

“My job is to open up doors for other people to walk through. That’s important.”