UKFast

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UKFast.Net Ltd
Private
Industry Internet hosting
Founded 1999
Headquarters UKFast Campus, Birley Fields, Manchester, M15 5QJ
Key people
 CEO + Founder
Lawrence Jones
Commercial Director + Co-Founder
Gail Jones
Technical Director
Neil Lathwood
Managing Director
Jonathan Bowers
Website http://www.ukfast.co.uk

UKFast.Net Ltd is a business-to-business hosting company based in Manchester, UK. It is principally known for managed hosting, cloud services, and colocation. The business also owns a data centre complex in Trafford Park, Manchester.[1]

Company history

UKFast was founded in September 1999 by Welsh businessman Lawrence Jones and his partner Gail.[2]

In 2007, the company moved to the highest office space in Manchester – the 28th floor of City Tower. As UKFast expanded, it acquired further space on the 16th floor, before moving in 2013 to UKFast Campus, in the Birley Fields area of Hulme.[3][4]

Having received the PAS 2060 Certification of Carbon Neutrality from the British Standards Institution in 2010, UKFast was certified as 100% carbon neutral.[5]

In 2013 the firm launched eCloud, a range of cloud hosting services whose hardware infrastructure reportedly cost £12million to build.[6] In that year, the business turned over £23.4m.[7] For the year ending December 31st 2014, UKFast reported a 24 per cent turnover increase from £23.4m to £28.9m. Between 2011 and 2015, UKFast invested more than £25m into capital expenditure including the development of four data centres and the flagship UKFast Campus.[8]

In 2013 UKFast opened an office Glasgow Scotland.[9]

Sponsorship

UKFast partners with Manchester Camerata, a Manchester-based chamber orchestra. Lawrence Jones, UKFast's CEO, joined the board of the Manchester Camerata in 2009 after helping the orchestra develop and host its new website.[10] The orchestra now uses UKFast’s auditorium for performances and networking events.[11]

UKFast was the main sponsor of rugby union club Sale Sharks in 2009.[12] UKFast also sponsored local rugby league club Salford Reds in 2011, collaborating with internet design consultancy Harper James to launch the club’s new website.[13] From 2014, the Diane Modahl Sports Foundation’s young athletes on the “Road to Rio” were able to use the UKFast gym free of charge, as part of the company’s ‘Year of Giving’ initiative.[14]

Corporate social responsibility projects

At the end of 2013, CEO Lawrence Jones took the team of builders away from working on the development of UKFast Campus to a house in Wythenshawe. Here, the builders and many members of the UKFast team helped to build a sensory shed for an autistic seven-year-old boy called Harvey – after arsonists had destroyed a sensory shed created by his parents for his Christmas present.[15] After completing the Harvey's Den Project, UKFast launched the Random Acts of Kindness Year for 2014.[16]

UKFast's other notable charity projects include helping to raise £250,000 for a new MRI scanner in the "Five Stars Scanner Appeal" for the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital; sponsoring and offering free use of the UKFast gym to the Diane Modahl Sports Foundation; and competing in charity sporting events such as the Creative Cup - a charity football tournament in aid of the Alzheimer's Society - and the Great Manchester 10K Run.[17][18][19][20]

Awards and accreditations

Between 2005 and 2009, UKFast won six ISPA awards and was named "Best Hosting Provider" for four years running.[21][22][23][24][25]

UKFast received the Data Centre Solutions Awards’ "Private Cloud Product of the Year" in 2012 and the DatacenterDynamics Award for "Innovation in Outsourcing" in 2013.[26][27]

In the same year, UKFast received the National Business Awards "Employer of the Year" award and the Institute of Customer Service "Employee Engagement Strategy of the Year" awards.[28][29]

UKFast has also featured in the Sunday Times "100 Best Small Companies to Work For" and the Great Place to Work Institute’s "Best Workplaces" lists, placing 28th and 12th respectively in 2014, 25th and 5th respectively in 2013, and 45th and 7th respectively in 2012.[30][31][32][33][34][35]

References

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External links

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