 | | Lawrence Jones of UKFast.Net |
Manchester is the UK's second biggest IT city. These days, everyone is on the net and everyone's got broadband. And every business knows they have got to have a good provider if they're going to compete. Which is where ISPs come in. In business terms, an ISP is the key to helping businesses reach customers. And more and more companies are hosting their websites on dedicated ISP servers. One such ISP is UKFast based in Manchester which specialises as a dedicated host for UK businesses and organisations. In 2005, it was voted the ISPA’s Best Business Hosting Provider 2005 - a top industry award. And it's a finalist again this year! In January 2006, it announced record results. And it has an impressive list of clients including Tesco, Sky Interactive, Dollond & Aitchison - and Sale Sharks rugby club! We asked the Managing Director Lawrence Jones to tell us more: How fast is UKFast growing? "UKFast has been growing rapidly since its conception in 1999. For the 3 years to 2005 the turnover doubled year on year. But last year we really moved up a gear. In 2003 we set up a Research & Development team to find the best ways to expand without sacrificing customer services. By late 2004 things had fallen into place brilliantly and 2005 was very productive." What does an ISP actually do and how does it work? "ISP’s create the infrastructure that facilitates people's use of the World Wide Web, email and other Internet systems. So the key words are connectivity and hosting.
Basically, homes and businesses need a connection to use the Internet – these days that's Broadband. | "We’re going to keep on building our brand, gaining a stronger market share which may well take a chunk out of the big boys" | | Lawrence Jones, UKFast |
In addition, individuals, businesses and organisations can put their information online by hosting their websites on ISP’s Servers. It's mind blowing when you consider the size of this technological community across the world and all you see at home is what's on your screens!" What kind of ISP is UKFast? "We specialise in providing dedicated hosting for UK businesses and organisations. Our continuing goal is to create the UK’s finest online infrastructure - a backbone for the best of the Net. SKY Interactive, Dollond & Aitchison and Sarah Beeny’s MySingleFriend.com all enjoy one of the fastest networks in the world. Our technology and customer care facilitates their success behind the scenes. It’s not just big corporations using dedicated servers though. Savvy Net businesses have realised that dedicated servers make them faster, securer and more reliable than thousands who share resources on shared servers. We also offer Business Broadband and Domain Name Registration, but only as a companion service to hosting." You say you're expanding. But isn't all internet business growing? "You’re absolutely right, the Internet is the fastest growing industry in the world. In our area, we are growing at the expense of other ISP’s. We know this because most new clients come to our network from other networks. So if UKFast has a blue pipe under the ground and another ISP has a yellow one, it’s likely that the blue is growing into space that the yellow once occupied. "Why are we growing faster than others? Well, a good percentage of new clients come through word of mouth and we also have a great retention rate. So as clients grow they come back for bigger solutions. Our technicians strive to over exceed a clients expectations and so our name gets bandied around very favourably. We’ve also won big industry awards and we’re a respected company outside of London – which helps." How did UKFast begin life? "We first set out the UKFast stall in 1999. A year earlier, I had sold my Entertainments Company to Granada and joined them as Director of Corporate Hospitality. When Coronation Street wanted Dodgem cars and Steve Coogan at their Christmas party they came to me. After a while, I got frustrated because it was just impossible to make a difference as a small cog in a very large machine. I got itchy for productive challenges. "I left and went to the US looking for a new vision to bring home. At the time a major Internet boom was starting. I wanted to offer a product I could sell to a diverse community and I knew the Internet would grow beyond expectations - I went all out for it. I set up UKFast as soon as I got back to Manchester. At this time I met Gail Everton and we built UKFast together from the start - oh and got married too along the way!" How do you compete with the big boys eg AOL, Wannadoo, Tiscali "We simply don't target the same market as most of the huge consumer Broadband providers because we specialise in dedicated servers for UK businesses. Tiscali is the only one you’ve mentioned that we have come up against. They were also in the finals of last years ISPA Awards, the Internet’s equivalent of the BAFTAs. We won the Best Hosting Provider trophy proving that size is not the most important factor in this business. "Our success has actually been partly down to companies choosing to leave the 'big boys' and join a firm that places customer service as a priority. It makes us very conscious of the important factors whilst we grow as a company." What are the challenges for a small ISP? "In comparison to AOL or Wannadoo, I guess we are small. Our biggest challenge is to avoid making the same mistakes as the big players. Big businesses often lose sight of the customer as the money starts rolling in. In 2006 we’re looking to further improve our award winning network at the same time as expanding. We aim to; always exceed our clients' expectations, keep developing the fastest most reliable technology and most importantly, maintain an emphasis on customer focus. This is instilled in the whole team and it’s through passion and teamwork that we can achieve it." You've been recognised in industry awards. Why? "I think the biggest strength is the team Gail and I have put together. The Internet is a virtual world, but it's made possible by incredibly talented people. I've got a lot of them here - technicians, developers, customer care managers. We all make UKFast. Our first major award in November 2004 was voted for by the public. Our clients made us the UK's Best Business ISP because of the lasting relationships we've built. We got more votes than Pipex who have half a million customers, so that's a real testament to our team. "Just after winning this award, I realised it was no longer feasible to manage all the company’s departments myself. I had a weakness when it came to devolving responsibility. After all – UKFast is my little baby! However, we brought some new managers in and developed existing staff and the results have been fantastic. I still love my job and have freed up time to concentrate on other aspects of the company." You're based in Manchester. Does that help? "Manchester was named the 3rd Best Business city in Europe last year, based on criteria such as office space, cost of production and technological advancement - and we love being up here. We gained business last year from Southern companies looking for better quality solutions outside the capital. We also win a lot of contracts with Northern firms that don’t want to be hosted in London. On a personal note, I have lived in Manchester for over 20 years and there's nowhere else on earth I could envisage building a better company." What do you see the challenges ahead for UKFast? "We’re going to keep on building our brand, gaining a stronger market share which may well take a chunk out of the big boys, whilst retaining what makes us special – our staff, customer support and high class network. "There's a lot of passion within UKFast - honestly - our techies are hugely passionate about their work and so are the rest of our team. We have to be very clever about the staff we bring in to make sure we do not dilute this mix. So the biggest challenge is to find dynamic, innovative and passionate people to join UKFast and reach our goal to be the online backbone for the best of British. And when we've achieved that, we'll move on to the rest of the world." | 
