Internet service provider snaps up IT support business
ASK4, the Sheffield-based internet service provider, has completed the acquisition of IT managed services and support business, Birchenallhowden (BHL).
Established in 2006, BHL provides services including application hosting, private cloud, hosted telephony, desktop support and backup to SMEs, corporates and public sector clients, with a particular focus on call centre operators and multi-site healthcare providers.
The company, which is also based in Sheffield and employs 29 staff, was acquired for an undisclosed sum.
ASK4 will merge BHL with its ASK4 Business and ASK4 Datacentres subsidiaries, which provide managed communications services to multi-tenanted business centres and operates a Tier-3 data centre, to create ASK4 Integrated Services.
ASK4 Integrated Services will provide end-to-end managed IT services to existing commercial customers and to ASK4’s base of customers in the Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) sector.
Neill Birchenall and Philip Howden will run the combined new subsidiary with support from the ASK4 Group.
Jonathan Burrows, CEO of ASK4, said: “We are delighted to welcome the BHL team to the ASK4 Group. We have known the principals, Neill and Philip, for many years and have worked with BHL to support common customers, both through our data centre facility and in the PBSA sphere.
“We have always been hugely impressed with their customer-first culture, which strongly aligns with our approach, and we look forward to working with the team to offer an enriched suite of services to new and existing customers.”
Philip Howden, operations director at BHL, added: “BHL and ASK4 have worked together for nearly a decade. That common understanding of each other’s business, close working relationship of our two teams, and the identical cultural and company values, ensure the organisations will be able to align quickly and start to offer a near-complete set of IT services.”
Neil Birchenall, BHL managing director, also said: “To enable BHL to deliver more advanced integrated solutions to our customers we needed new connectivity and data centre capabilities. The opportunity to become part of the ASK4 group was an obvious and mutually beneficial next step to achieve this.
“The new combined company will be uniquely placed to offer a truly integrated solution to both new and existing clients both in the UK and across Europe. We can’t wait to get started.”
ASK4 was advised by PwC on financial and tax matters and Stephenson Harwood and Keebles on legal matters. The shareholders of BHL were advised by KPMG and Ironmonger Curtis.
