Onyx targets £10m filip as new data centre planned

Published on Monday 6 July 2009 21:37

IT FIRM Onyx yesterday said it expects to add £10 million to its turnover after unveiling plans to open a new data centre in Edinburgh.

The 5m facility, the second to be opened by the group in the Scottish capital over the past six months, will store clients' files.

Aegon, the Dutch insurance and pensions firm that owns the Scottish Equitable brand, is the first client to sign up to use the new centre.

Onyx, which last year bought Glasgow's Campbell Lee and Edinburgh-based Dundas IT, has grown its turnover from 3m to 12m over the past two years and is targeting 25m of full-year revenue by the end of its next financial year.

The group expects to recruit up to ten engineers to work at its latest data centre, which it expects to add 10m to annual turnover within the next five years.

In April, Onyx opened a workplace recovery centre at the Gyle, Edinburgh, from which clients can work if the computer systems in their office are disrupted.

The company, which has its headquarters in Middlesbrough, now has data centres and workplace recovery facilities in both Glasgow and Edinburgh.

About half of the group's revenue comes from Scotland, where 50 of its 100 staff work.

Neil Stephenson, Onyx's chief executive, told The Scotsman that he would like to open a centre in Aberdeen to service the group's existing clients in the oil and gas sector.

He expected the new centre, part-funded by a grant from Scottish Enterprise, to open at the start of September.

Stephenson said: "To my mind, this is a 10m opportunity, in terms of increasing our size and turnover.

"We're still investing and growing across the UK. I've made a determined effort to build the business in both Edinburgh and Glasgow. Demand for our services is driving our growth."

He added: "Aberdeen is an interesting market for us – we already have some clients up there. One of the reasons we built the business going north rather than south is because of the links between the oil and gas industry in Scotland and our home in the north-east of England."

In April, staff from Onyx's Dalkeith and Falkirk offices relocated to its South Gyle centre, which has space for up to 250 members of staff from clients if their computer systems collapse.

Nigel Hedley, the group's services director, is based in Edinburgh, while Hugh Gillen, its infrastructure director, is based in Glasgow.