UKFast
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Internet hosting |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Founder | Lawrence Jones and Gail Jones |
| Headquarters | UKFast Campus, Birley Fields, Hulme, Manchester, M15 5QJ |
Key people | Chairman Richard Bishop CEO Richard Thompson Technical Director Neil Lathwood Managing Director Vacant |
| Website | www.ukfast.co.uk |
UKFast.Net Limited (trading as UKFast) was a business-to-business internet hosting company based in Manchester, England. It was principally known for managed hosting, cloud services, and co-location. The business owned and operates its data centre complex in Trafford Park.[1]
In 2019, the company employed more than 365 people and in 2018 achieved revenues of £53.9 million.[2]
It provided services to more than 5,000 clients including the NHS, the Ministry of Defence and the Cabinet Office.[3]
Since June 2022, UKFast.Net Limited and ANS Group Limited, which are both controlled by private equity group Inflexion, merged and have become ANS.[4]
UKFast was founded in September 1999 by Welsh businessman Lawrence Jones and his wife Gail Jones.[5]
In 2007, the company moved its head office to the 28th floor of City Tower in Manchester. It acquired further space on the 16th floor, before moving in 2013 to a campus at 1 Archway in the Birley Fields area of Hulme, Manchester.[6][7]
In 2013, the firm launched eCloud, a range of cloud hosting services whose hardware infrastructure reportedly cost £12 million to build.[8] In that year, the business turned over £23.4 million.[9] For the year ending 31 December 2014, UKFast reported a 24 per cent turnover increase from £23.4 million to £28.9 million. Between 2011 and 2015, UKFast invested more than £25 million into capital expenditure projects including the development of four data centres and the flagship UKFast Campus.[10]
In 2013, UKFast opened an office in Glasgow[11] and in 2015 opened a further office in London.[12]
In 2014, founder Lawrence Jones rejected a reported £200 million takeover bid amidst a trend of web hosting consolidation, citing that the business was still growing.[13]
In 2016, UKFast doubled the size of its headquarters by securing a further 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m2) of space at 3 Archway, Birley Fields, adjacent to its existing building.[14]
In 2018, a 30% stake of UKFast was sold to private equity firm Inflexion for around £120 million[15][16]
On 31 October 2019, CRN reported "Lawrence Jones quits UKFast following sexual misconduct allegations – Financial Times article accused Jones of sexual assault and harassment last week". Jones' wife and current UKFast managing director Gail Jones took over his responsibilities, according to the article.[17]
On 6 May 2020, the Joneses exited the business along with Secarma through a sale to existing private equity investor Inflexion.[18]
On 1 December 2023, Lawrence Jones was sentenced to a total of 15 years in prison for two rapes and a sexual assault after a trial at Manchester Crown Court. He was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.[19]