Lawrence Jones, 39

Managing director

UKFast.Net

Greatest professional achievement: Creating UKFast, named Britain’s “best hosting provider” at the ISPAs, the leading industry awards, in each one of the past four years.

Current business goal: Maintaining a 99 per cent client retention rate.

A fan of modern art, Jones set up a website selling pictures. But he was shocked at the poor service from his hosting company. So shocked, he decided to go into the business himself. That was in 1999 and UKFast quickly made its mark by putting the emphasis on customer service. In particular, Jones and his team cut the time it took to deliver bespoke servers to clients from three weeks to one hour. “I was told it would be impossible to realise my goal of cutting delivery times to under a day but I was only interested in pursuing what I believed my team could achieve,” he said.

“Now at UKFast we deliver more servers in a week than we used to do in a year.” Revenue increased from £500,000 to £4.2m between 2004 and 2007, when pre-tax profit reached £1.4m. A serial entrepreneur, he set up his first business while a sixth form student at De La Salle College in Salford. Music Design Company booked classical musicians for Manchester venues and events before he sold it to Granada Group in 1998. A visionary who believes in taking chances, he obsesses about the best way to recruit, train and motivate his 55 employees.

40 Under 40   Back to Index   Addy Bibby Alistair Mackintosh Andrew Brown Andrew Fickling Anthony Hartley-Denton Ciaran McGivern Daniel Cornwell Edward Rimmer Iain Evans Jason Glover Jason Spencer Jennie Johnson Jo Sellick Julie Besbrode Julie Twist Kieron Barton Lawrence Jones Marc Duschenes Marcie Incarico Mark Attwood Mark Hawthorn Mark Seaborn Mark Stott Michael Cassinelli Nabeel Chowdery Nicholas Hartshorne-Evans Nicola Shindler Olivier Cavaliere Paul Belton Philip Jones Robert Leggett Robert Martin Sandy Chadha Scott Fletcher Sharron Davis Simon Showman Terry Bland Thom Hetherington Tony Foggett Tracy Wood