UKFast to double staff numbers
MANCHESTER hosting firm UKFast says it is planning to double staff numbers to 400 over the next 18 months.
The business, which is investing £14m in expanding the number of data centres it owns to four, says it needs to recruit technicians, programmers, marketers and account managers.
UKFast also said its PR manager Liz Donevan, a former journalist at the North West business magazine EN, had been promoted to director of communications.
Once completed, UKFast’s data centres will have capacity of 5.5MVA and the company will be a significant player in the colocation market – where data space is rented to other hosting companies.
Turnover in the year to the December 31 2011 rose from £12.1m to £16m, and is on course to exceed £20m for 2012. Ebitda this year is set to double from £5m in 2011 to between £10m to £11m.
Chief executive Lawrence Jones said: “We’re on a high at UKFast after 13 years of consistent growth and we’re watching a £14m investment in a powerful data centre complex go live.
“We’re reacting to what our clients need and creating opportunities for them to grow. It’s incredibly exciting for me personally and for us as a team, and it’s given us the appetite to venture further into this market and dominate it with quality products and unrivalled service.
“We’ve never used a traditional recruitment process; we’re not looking to tick boxes on skills and qualifications. We just want great people who are passionate about being the best then we’ll train them and find a role to suit them.”
Ms Donevan will head the communications team, leading public relations, internal communications and developing external content. The role was previously held by Jonathan Bowers who became managing director in April.
She said: “It’s a company that is constantly innovating, investing in its team and in the region, and doing things differently to most other businesses, which makes my job – sharing all of those stories – a real pleasure. I’m looking forward to finding more extraordinary people to join the team.”
