by LDeX Blogger | Nov 26, 2014 | Blog
The Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 winners: What makes these companies special?
Last Thursday, tech visionaries from across the UK gathered to celebrate the growing success of their respective organisations, both large and small, in the Montcalm Hotel for the Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 awards. It ranks the 50 fastest growing companies in the UK based on their revenue growth rate over the last five years. Having guided companies through the harshest economic recession to date, it was remarkably evident that these leaders could not have succeeded without bold and flexible strategies, talented people that enable growth and having access to suitable sources of finance.
At this year’s awards, the winning company, Switch Concepts achieved a remarkable five year growth rate of 10,477%*, leading the pack in showing businesses how to succeed in a difficult tumultuous financial climate. The average five year growth rate across all the companies reported on the night was 1,695%*.
These numbers emphasise the importance of having a Chief Executive Officer who has a clear vision for the organisation and a team behind him/her which is focused on driving the company to succeed through hard work. Most importantly, having a CEO who has the ability to foresee demand, knows which geographical markets to target and who also has the capacity to build a strong target customer base is key to organisational success as it inspires staff to do likewise and build connections (formal and informal) in the industry.
Bold and flexible business strategy
According to the Deloitte CEO Fast 50 entrants survey, 60%* of respondents claimed that a sound business strategy was the primary factor in determining a company’s success. This includes having the ambition to succeed and the foresight about knowing where to play, how to win and when to tailor strategies when needed. 56%* of CEOs at this year’s Fast 50 had businesses with headquarters in London, which shows that there is a tremendous opportunity for entrepreneurs, looking to set up a business in the technological hub of Europe. However, there was also substantial growth from regions in the UK such as Scotland (12%)* and the South East (10%)* with businesses such as Switch Concepts and Skyscanner doing particularly well.
Over the next three years, it is expected that the biggest opportunities for growth will be Western Europe (50%)* and North America (69%). In the UK, this growth is not exclusive to any one sector, with 52% of growth expected in Software, 30%* expected in Internet, 8%* in Telecoms, 4%* in electronics, 4%* Media and Entertainment and 2%* in Green Tech.
How LDeX Group has succeeded
Having sold off a successful Manchester based datacentre to Telecity Group PLC in 2011, the founders of LDeX Group had a clear vision that they would like to replicate the success of the company and become a national datacentre operator based in London with an acute focus on customer service and operational excellence. The company has since gone from strength to strength as a colocation and network connectivity operator, having acquired managed communication services provider, Ping Networks, in 2013.
In recent years, the company has grown at an exponential rate of 897% and are a leading name in their sector. Rob Garbutt (CEO), Paddy Doyle (COO) and Simon Chamberlain (CTO) attribute growth to having a clear vision as to how to succeed in the market and develop the business going forward. It is also highly focused on taking care of customers and employing high calibre staff, which possess a mixture of both technical and commercial expertise, who have a keen desire to learn and be part of the company’s success. At this year’s awards, the company was ranked 31st fastest growing company overall and 12th in the UK Internet sector.*
Talented people
In today’s fast paced technological environment, it’s not only about finding the technical talent who are able to perform the day to day technical tasks, it is about sourcing people who can be developed and have the skillset to translate the worlds of business and technology to stakeholder groups. People want to be able to feel that they are making a difference in their role and add value to the organisation, giving them ample opportunity for career progression.
Inspiring success and knowing what makes people tick
The key to being a successful leader is showing others in the organisation how to succeed in their role and how to get to where they want to be in their career. It was clear to see at the Deloitte UK Fast 50 awards that there were many inspirational leaders in the room, with a clear focus on attracting the right staff and in turn have promoted them through the ranks to career success.
Each of the CEOs started off their businesses with a certain amount of capital, staff and resources. Through determination, hard work and strong leadership skills, these companies have grown at an exponential rate over the past five years. This has been as a result of recruiting key staff that have grown with the business and built relationships with stakeholders and customers. It is these people who have created exciting new solutions and markets for businesses.
Fostering innovation
Employees want to be able to feel that the organisation fosters a culture of innovation enabling staff to carry out their jobs and report back with progress updates. These Fast 50 leaders understand people’s motivations and help them get to where they want to be in their career through additional training (external or internal) and/or giving them challenging and rewarding tasks where they can prove their success in the organisation.
Traditionally in the technology SME sector, there has been a shortfall in skills with CEOs identifying a lack of new talent with relevant skills as the greatest threat to growth over the short and longer term (19% in the next 12 months, 24% in five to ten years’ time)*. However, with programmes such as STEM amongst others in place, this should hopefully be addressed in the future and help organisations in finding the right people with the right skills through adequate awareness of how these jobs can make a difference to the economy.
The Deloitte Fast 50 CEO survey reflected this with 41% of CEOs identifying employee talent, having a culture of innovation (41%)* and strong leadership skills (26%)* as the key factors of success. What is fantastic to see is that all of these companies are based in the UK.
Suitable Sources of Finance
The Fast 50 companies had a clear understanding of the financing options which were available to them and how they could ensure cash flow and continued revenue growth over the next 12 months. Similar to LDeX Group and detailed in the Deloitte survey, eight of the top 10 would classify themselves as owner funded. Other companies are expecting to access venture capital or private equity funding in the next 12 months.*
Over the past 17 years, the Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 programme has been dedicated to recognising those businesses that have defied the odds and entered a phase of vigorous and sustained growth over the last five years.
Final thoughts
Start-ups in the United Kingdom should look to emulate the success of the Fast 50 companies by looking into their common characteristics as outlined above. Recruiting the right people to take your business forward, sourcing the capital to make it happen, looking after your customers as your business grows and having the right leaders on board will hopefully enable your business to be a Deloitte Fast 50 winner in the coming years.
As a manager at LDeX Group, it was my absolute pleasure to be in the presence of these technology leaders on Thursday and I’m looking forward to seeing these organisations thrive and succeed going forward.
Source: *Deloitte LLP – Defining fast tech growth – Fast 50 community – CEO survey
by LDeX Blogger | Nov 25, 2014 | Group News
LDeX Group awarded Investors in People accolade for best practice in employee engagement
London, United Kingdom – 25 November 2014:
LDeX Group has today announced that it has been awarded the Investors in People (IIP) accolade for best practice in employee engagement, having developed its internal communications function over the last six months and surpassed all 37 evidence based criterion associated with the prestigious people management standard.
The national datacentre and network connectivity provider has aligned itself to best practice in accordance with Investors in People and has placed a strong emphasis on developing its employee engagement strategy in order to ensure that LDeX Group is an attractive place to work for both existing and new employees.
Investors in People provides a best practice people management standard, offering accreditation to organisations that adhere to the Investors in People framework. Investors in People is owned by the UK government, managed nationally by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills and supported by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Investors in People assessments are conducted locally through seven local Delivery Centres.
Rob Garbutt, CEO of LDeX Group commented: “We are very proud to be part of the Investors in People programme and we look forward to evolving our employee engagement and people management strategy over the coming years. With a view to expanding the business over the next decade, we want to enable our staff to feel valued and continue to put the resources in place for them to succeed and achieve the group’s organisational objectives.”
He added: “It is imperative for organisations such as ours to develop the skills, knowledge and expertise of their staff in order to enhance the levels of operational effectiveness and customer service within the business.”
David Umpleby, Head of Investors in People, said: “I would like to congratulate LDeX on achieving the Investors in People Standard, it is something that any organisation should be truly proud of. Achieving this standard clearly show’s LDeX’s commitment to its people but also an understanding of the value of employee engagement in the successful delivery of a wider strategy.”
Ends
About LDeX Group
LDeX Group is an independent national datacentre and colocation operator providing best in class colocation, network connectivity and satellite services to an array of customers across the globe.
LDeX own, operate and manage their facilities, providing London and Manchester colocation services to a range of industry sectors to protect the availability of data, applications, ecommerce and online presence.
For further information, please visit the website: www.ldexgroup.co.uk
by LDeX Blogger | Nov 21, 2014 | Group News
LDeX Group announced as 31st fastest growing technology company in the UK at the Deloitte Fast 50 awards- UK colocation provider LDeX Group recognised for achieving 897% revenue growth over the last five years –
London, United Kingdom – 21st November 2014:
LDeX Group has today announced that it has been named as the 31st fastest growing technology company in the United Kingdom at this year’s Deloitte Fast 50 awards, which took place yesterday evening at the Montcalm Hotel in London.
The prestigious accolade was awarded to the independent datacentre and network connectivity provider having achieved an exponential revenue growth of 897% over the last five years. The award highlights the growing success of LDeX as a national datacentre operator in the United Kingdom.
Now in its seventeenth year, the Deloitte Fast 50 awards ranks the country’s 50 fastest growing technology companies, based on revenue growth over the last five years, and includes both public and private companies of all sizes in the technology arena, such as Skyscanner and Just Eat Plc.
Rob Garbutt, CEO at LDeX Group commented: “We are very proud to be recognised as the 31st fastest growing company in the UK. As an expanding datacentre operator, our growth has come as a result of our acute focus on providing best in class customer service as well as the team’s commitment to operational excellence.”
He added: “We believe that this award showcases to the industry how customer service is paramount to successful commercial growth in an otherwise difficult and competitive trading environment.”
David Halstead, Partner leading the Deloitte Technology Fast 50, said: “The Deloitte Technology Fast 50 gives great profile to technology companies and is internationally recognised as being one of the most important business awards in the sector.”
“The 2014 Deloitte Fast 50 shows that tremendous growth rates are still possible, with software sectors showing particular strength, they have had the greatest amount of entries in the past five years. This year’s ranking highlights the importance of being innovative and finding a niche product or service, to beat the recession.”
The colocation provider will automatically be entered in the Deloitte Fast 500 EMEA programme, which ranks the 500 fastest growing technology companies in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Ends
About LDeX Group
LDeX Group is an independent national datacentre and colocation operator providing best in class colocation, network connectivity and satellite services to an array of customers across the globe.
LDeX own, operate and manage their facilities, providing London and Manchester colocation services to a range of industry sectors to protect the availability of data, applications, ecommerce and online presence.
For further information, please visit the website: www.ldexgroup.co.uk
by LDeX Blogger | Nov 19, 2014 | Blog
Simon Chamberlain speaks to the team at LDeX Group about the factors which he considers imperative when looking to choose a data centre provider.
If someone were to recommend a data centre, what would their recommendation be based on?
Most probably on whether the DC is “Tier 3″, well connected, secure, has reliable and sufficient power, and is in a suitable location. All are important considerations, however the most usual reason for choosing a DC comes down to price. As long as the usual boxes are ticked, everything comes down to which provider can provide the most cost effective solution – which is of course is perfectly reasonable.
As someone who has worked extensively with data centres over the past 15 years or so, I have found that the one thing that really differentiates them is service. Some data centres do not match up to expectations once the all important contract is signed. When it comes to getting problems resolved or connectivity provisioned they just don’t want to know or will charge you through the nose.
There are several scenarios where service becomes absolutely critical. Imagine you have a colocated server that suddenly goes offline. In no uncertain terms, this is clearly a panic stricken situation. Customers start calling, and there is severe time pressure to get to the bottom of what is going on. You might have invested in several layers of resilience and probably promised 100% uptime to your customers, but if you get hit by a DDoS attack or hacked by a disgruntled employee, then you’re a dead duck. At these critical times you need help and quickly. This is when the DC service centre really makes a difference. Can your DC really get someone in front of your cab in five minutes with a laptop and a remote login? Do they have a 24/7 NOC that can troubleshoot any connectivity issues at any complexity quickly and efficiently? Or is it going to be quicker for you to drive to the DC and try and figure out things for yourself?
You maybe thinking that critical situations are (thankfully) rare and your business can survive the odd outage. Service isn’t just about critical situations though – it’s about the day to day running of your colocation. It’s about upgrading kit, getting patch leads installed, IP transit installed. Can you send hardware to your data centre that is securely stored and then installed by a trained technician? Is there a technician who is constantly keeping you in the loop at all times? Can you get a cross-connect installed within an hour of requesting it? Does your DC provide connectivity solutions where the NOC will contact you if there is a problem, before you know one exists?
Does such a data centre even exist? Well yes it does, and it’s called LDeX . Of course, as a director of LDeX you would expect me to say that, but I can honestly say that LDeX really does deliver on this front. If you don’t believe me, talk to our customers. Having conducted a recent customer satisfaction survey, it revealed that our average score for service is 9/10, and this is the biggest reason we have such a low churn rate. It’s part of our ethos and why we are successful in a competitive market.
That’s all very well and good I hear you say, but surely most data centres have all that covered. Well unfortunately they don’t. Typically cross connects in our competitor data centres take between five and ten days to deliver. Some DCs don’t even provide remote hands, or if they do, the skill level is often questionable. Some are bogged down in process and red tape. Getting permission to do anything can take days or even weeks to sort out. This is why is it crucial to work with a data centre that provides efficient and impeccable services levels at any time of day. The really great news is LDeX also ticks all the regular boxes and is one of the best priced colo providers on the market supplemented with superior connectivity from top tier connectivity providers backed up by an onsite 24/7 NOC.
There is a really great feeling about having happy customers and that’s why we pride ourselves on our customer service.
To find out more about LDeX see www.ldexgroup.co.uk , or get in touch on +44 (0)207 183 3959.
