Duncan Mansfield, the founder of an award-winning Land Rover parts specialist in Manningtree has parted company with the business he established nine years ago, after selling a controlling interest last year to a major motor parts group.

Mr Mansfield sold a 75% stake in his business to Allmakes last summer when Mansfield Motors was suffering a severe cashflow crisis. A move to new premises early in 2001 over-ran budget and the problems were compounded when UK orders dried up almost overnight as a result of the foot and mouth crisis. The company won numerous national business awards in recent years as well as picking up two Anglian Business Awards, predominantly for the successful transformation of an Essex-based Land Rover specialist into an international e-commerce operation. It also enjoyed considerable national and local media attention for e-commerce best practice.

Mr Mansfield has now joined the team at off-roading equipment supplier Terrain Master on the Brantham Mill Industrial Estate in a new venture called 4x4 Parts Master. 4x4 Parts Master has already teamed up with Ipswich-based A Recipe For Success, the web solutions firm behind the award-winning Mansfield Motors website, to design the company's website. Colin Huck has also joined from Mansfield Motors to look after online business. "I am more concerned with having quality of life, but at the same time helping other Land Rover owners," said Mr Mansfield, who established the Mansfield Motors' ethos 'enthusiasts working for enthusiasts'. "I have tried big business methods over the last 18 months and this only made me unhappy. We are now going to turn the clock back two years to where we were then. I believe our customers will appreciate that, and I know we will."