Onyx's acquisition hunt will win national clients

Oct 27 2009 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

DATA security group Onyx has made its fifth acquisition in 18 months as the fast-growing firm continues its aggressive national expansion.

The Middlesbrough-headquartered business has bought London-based Disaster Recovery Solutions (DRS), which runs 70 data recovery offices across the country.

The acquisition will see the company re-branded to Onyx Business Continuity Solutions and will allow Onyx to win more SMEs as clients on a national basis.

Workplace recovery is normally a service associated with large, blue chip organisations due to the generally high costs involved.

Onyx’s latest acquisition means it now has a country-wide network of 70 smaller disaster recovery offices which could be the catalyst for the company to win an army of new SME customers.

The company last night said it would remain firmly on the acquisition hunt over the next two years as it motors towards its long-term goal of becoming a £50m-a-year business.

It currently generates around £12m in annual turnover and this month predicted this figure to rise to £20m as early as next year.

Managing director Neil Stephenson said: “We are an acquisitive business and this is only the beginning of what we are looking to do.

“Latest research shows that 90% of businesses which lose data from a disaster are forced to shut down within two years of the disruption.

“It’s clear therefore that robust disaster recovery services and business continuity planning is vital in ensuring a business stays operational, which is why this is such an important purchase for us.

“It shows that we’re fully focused on up scaling the business, with a particular focus on regulated markets.”

The last 12 months have seen Onyx grow from a regional IT company into a national firm through a string of acquisitions.

This has cumulated in the company being named as one of Britain’s fastest growing technology companies of 2009 in the recent Sunday Times Tech Track 100, after seizing several opportunities thrown up by the downturn. In August the company bought IT provider Moffatt Communications, which serves hedge funds in London’s financial district.

The takeover came on the back of investment into collapsed software supplier Newcastle Computer Services and Scottish technology companies Campbell Lee and Dundas IT.

Earlier this year the group opened a data centre in Edinburgh, meaning that – alongside its centres in Glasgow, Newcastle and Middlesbrough – it services more than 3,000 UK customers.

Onyx started life in 2000 when Mr Stephenson and other company directors conducted a management buy-out from the company’s American owners, who were suffering as the dotcom bubble burst.