Lawrence Jones is the managing director of UKFast a rapidly growing technology busness that specialises in dedicated servers hosting with head offices and Data Centres in Manchester.
Lawrence came to Manchester at 16 after leaving Ruthin school. Born in Denbigh, North Wales he spent some time in Durham Chorister School studying music. His passion for music drew him to his first business The Music Design Company when he first arrived in Manchester.
At its height MDC employed over 240 musicians and specialised in proving entertainment and event organising in the Manchester region.
Lawrence is quoted to say "I worked so hard to get out of Wales as a kid, and now I work to get back at every available moment."
The Music Design Company
Without any experience in business or collateral behind him, The Music Design Company took a number of years to get off the ground, but it's a time of his life that Lawrence talks passionately about. "It was a great learning curve and every day was an adventure. I never knew what I was doing from one day to the next. I had a reputation in the industry as a fixer. People came to me with their challenges and I'd find the best solution for them. It started with just musicians, but I supplied anything from doormen to dance floors. "
It was one of the ventures, the importing of Grand Pianos and then renting them to hotels, that triggered off the business model that now underpins UKFast.
"The monthly recurring revenue model is safe, it allows you to plan and grow. Long after I sold MDC, the pianos were still quietly making money in the background."
Lawrence had the first digital recording studio in Manchester and is an accomplished songwriter and composer, artist and all round creative. He has worked some amazingly talented musicians and threatens to return to the music industry one day if he gets some spare time.
In 1998, the Granada Group PLC acquired MDC.
Lawrence recollects: "I was in the right place at the right time. The was nothing strategic from my point of view. Granada bought Forte. They needed a business to manage their entertainment. At the time I was running some incredible events and had pianos in every bar, restaurant and hotel. I viewed this as an excellent opportunity to see how big business work and after a decade of being a small business I knew the experience was invaluable."
He joined them as sales director of Grosvenor Productions, which fell under the Granada Entertainments umbrella.
After fulfilling obligations to integrate the 2 businesses for 12 months, he took time out to experience life and contemplate his next venture.
'I was 30, I knew the next move was crucial and I was well aware of the importance time plays in life. I spent time in the US, playing chess in Washington Square Gardens, in New York, skate boarding, painting water colours in Central Park. It was a wonderful year, but the pressure was slowing mounting. What was I to do next?"
Lawrence Jones' next challenge
It was in New York that he made a decision that the internet was the home of his next venture.
And although he admits, his first idea of building a site called thegallery.com was not a particularly great one, his experiences trying to set the site up with his then girlfriend (now wife and business partner) Gail Jones, was so frustrating, he decided to dedicate his business efforts to building the best hosting provider in the UK. UKFast.
The services over the years have changed somewhat, and we ventured into Broadband and quickly sold that arm to thebusiness to specialise and concentrate our efforts on providing Dedicated server hosting, servers that people put websites and databases to run their businesses.
At last count UKFast hosts more than 6,500 data centres across 3 locations, 2 in Manchester and 1 in London. With Data Centres in short supply the first of 10 DC's comes live in May 2011.
"Its taken longer than expected, but most great things usually do. I wanted our first fully owned Datacentre to be just right. It has every power saving, green gadget imaginable and is being run at a higher standard than any other DC with we have encountered in Manchester."
Today UKFast is a multi-million pound company. Lawrence has not been frightened to ask for help and advice from some of the worlds greatest leaders and entrepreneurs, including Sir Richard Branson and Tony Robbins.
In 1999, Lawrence and his wife Gail established UKFast. His customer-focused approach to the internet has led to four highly regarded national awards including Best Hosting Provider for four years running, in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. In 2008 UKFast won the Manchester Evening News' Best Business Award for the £10m turnover category. The company then gained a spot in the Deloitte Fast 50 - for the fastest growing technology companies in the UK. And finally it achieved a place in the InfoWorld100 - a worldwide accolade representative of the top 100 IT solutions.
In the community UKFast proudly sponsors Sale Sharks Rugby Club and Airwaves-Yamaha, born out of Lawrence's love of sport. It has 2,500 clients on its network, including the likes of Sainsbury's, Printing.com and Marie Curie.
Lawrence's passion for success in everything he does was born of a near-death experience. Since that moment in 2001 he hasn't let anything hold him back from being the best. In 2007, Lawrence won the IOD's Young Director of the Year Award. This year Lawrence was named in Crain's Manchester '40 under 40' and he was a regional finalist in Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award.