Onyx Group on track to double its turnover

Oct 1 2009 by Chris Knox, The Journal

FAST-GROWING Onyx Group expects to hit its target of almost doubling its turnover from £12m to £20m by as early as next year after moving into a new head office on Teesside.

The data rescue company is moving into a three-storey office block near its current two-storey site in Middlesbrough, which increases its capacity by 50% and allows it to add jobs to its 40-strong North East workforce.

It is also eyeing up a number of companies over the coming months as part of an aggressive acquisition strategy that has seen it purchase four companies in the last 19 months.

The company is looking to spread its geographic coverage further after acquiring hedge-fund specialist Moffat Communications in London last month to help it pick up business in the financial sector, as well as opening a data centre in Edinburgh, which it expects to bring in annual sales of £10m alone by 2012.

The firm, which services around 3,000 UK customers, now hopes to double its UK workforce to 220 by the end of next year as it continues to add additional business to its portfolio, as well as benefit from the increasing number of companies outsourcing their data management needs as a way of improving efficiencies during the recession.

Onyx specialises in running data recovery centres – which prevent companies losing their sensitive information in the event of an emergency – and operates a data centre on Tyneside in addition to its Teesside headquarters.

It started life in 2000 when chief executive Neil Stephenson and other company directors conducted a management buy-out from the company’s American owners, who were suffering after the dotcom bubble burst.

In the past 18 months, the company has invested in collapsed software supplier Newcastle Computer Services and Scottish technology companies Campbell Lee and Dundas IT.

Last year also saw it open an office in Dubai to build on its current clients in the Gulf by seeking contracts from multinational and government-led businesses. The firm, which can count Newcastle-based software giant Sage and electronics retailer DSGI among its customers, recently inducted into the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 as a result of its speedy growth.

Chief executive Neil Stephenson said: “We are focused on growing the business further over the coming months, and naturally jobs will be created out of this.

“The markets that we specialise in are experiencing a boom at the moment as companies realise that they can increase their efficiencies by outsourcing a large proportion of their data management.

“We have increased our capacity significantly and are looking ahead to growing our profitability in the near future.”