By Kristy Dorsey
DataVita, the data centre and multi-cloud services division of Scottish commercial property group HFD, saw revenues more than double during the year to the end of June as the pandemic drove companies to shut down their internal data centres.
Contracted revenues rose to £31 million against £15m the previous year as a variety of organisations invested in their IT systems, with an emphasis on resilience and sustainability. The company reported new contract wins across the mix of its cloud, connectivity, co-location and managed IT services.
“The Covid-19 pandemic placed unprecedented pressure on companies’ IT systems and the digital infrastructure we all rely on,” DataVita managing director Danny Quinn said.
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“We supported some significant migration projects during the deepest spell of lockdown and it was impressive to see customers drive so much change during an incredibly challenging time. The level of digital transformation we have seen in the last 18 months would normally have taken years.”
The increase in revenue follows the acquisition in May of the Fortis Data Centre in Bellshill. Supporting IT services for an estimated two million people across the country, there are plans to take the facility off-grid, generating its own electricity from wind and battery-powered back-up systems.
The value of the Fortis acquisition was undisclosed, but was supported by £45m from parent company HFD. Once the overhaul of the facility is completed, it is expected to be valued at £160m.
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“More organisations are placing an emphasis on green IT, which is something we have embedded within our strategy for the data centre and the services we provide,” Mr Quinn added. “While it was an important topic prior to the pandemic, it is now driving the end result for a lot of companies, rather than being just one of several influences.”
Set up in 2014, DataVita’s original data centre opened in 2016 at Chapelhall in North Lanarkshire. The division employs 30 people.
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