SPONSORING a football team when you are running a small business from a corner shop in the back streets of Burnley will never be found in any management manual.

But for Paul Cumpstey, it was the logical way to make P3 Computers a household name.

And as a lifelong Clarets fan, he admits it was a big thrill to see his company's name on Burnley FC's shirts.

Even for a club rooted to the bottom of the second division, shirt sponsorship does not come cheap.

Paul took the plunge and signed up for a six-figure sum over two seasons.

"It was a bit of a gamble," he recalled. "There were only five of us working from a tiny shop in Rosegrove, but when I heard the shirt sponsorship was up for grabs, I just knew it was the right move.

"If you were to ask 500 people in Burnley to name a local computer company, at least 450 would say P3 Computers. When Burnley signed Ian Wright, our name was on national TV and I have newspaper cuttings from all over the world of Burnley players with our logo on their shirts.

"In terms of making people aware of who we were, it was a fantastic investment."

Paul was a late convert to the world of information technology. After leaving Burnley Grammar School, he worked for the local council as a mason and paviour.

In his twenties, however, a back injury forced him to rethink his career and he was sent to a rehabilitation centre in Preston.

"They had you trying all sorts of different jobs out," said Paul. "After having a go at engineering and office work, they put me in a computer room. I had never sat in front of one before, but on that very first day I knew it was the job I wanted to get into." He carried on his basic training at Burnley ITEC and then went to Manchester to learn about networking and installation. Still on a £70 a week training allowance, he spent a dismal three months on a work placement with a firm in Wilmslow, commuting daily from his home in Burnley.

Desperate for a proper job nearer home, he still remembers sending out 96 applications. Of the two job offers he received, he took one with a Burnley computer firm and was soon promoted to workshop manager.

"I was under a lot of stress at the time and I thought I might as well be doing all the graft for myself," he said. "I took one person with me and we worked out of two tiny rooms in a corner shop in Rosegrove."

That was back in 1995 and, with start-up capital of just £11,500, the business turned over almost half a million pounds in its first year.

Working seven days a week, growth came slowly and steadily. It was another 18 months before a third worker was taken on and a further year before the fourth name went on the payroll.

The Burnley FC sponsorship deal forced the company into another gear and P3 moved to its present headquarters in Healey Wood Road in 1998.

Today, the company has nine employees, assembling custom-designed computer systems for the education, health and business markets. Home PCs account for only 20 per cent of the operation. For a man prepared to take a gamble with Burnley FC, he admits to taking a cautious approach to business. "I will not do anything new until I am absolutely sure about it," he said.

"My philosophy is quite straightforward - be honest, look after people and give them a personal service."

It is a policy that appears to be paying off. He is expecting turnover to reach £1.5 million this year and is looking to make a margin of around 32 per cent.

So, what's next for the plain-talking 39-year-old entrepreneur. "Retirement," he says without any hesitation. "My problem is that I have never liked working. I didn't like school and even now, when I look out of the window on a sunny day, I want to be out there enjoying the weather.

"I'd quite like spending three months of the year in Spain and then going where the fancy takes me. "