Comms Dealer

Knight Corporate Finance has revealed details on its role as advisor to Growth Capital Partners (GCP) for its investment in Godalming-based Arrow Business Communications.

The comms and IT solutions provider is headed up by CEO Chris Russell and provides mobile, fixed line and IT support services to over 4,000 business customers.

Knight advised GCP on commercial matters, the telecommunications market and shareholder strategy.

Arrow is now set for fast growth and M&A activity following the investment that sees both parties hold a 50% shareholding in the business.

Arrow has completed seven acquisitions in the last six years and almost trebled in size, moving from its mobile roots to a broader based business communications supplier.

The company is now on the hunt for larger acquisition opportunities to bolster its hosted, data and IT services portfolio.

Arrow also holds service provider licences with both Vodafone and O2.

?Knight Director Paul Billingham stated: "This transaction is a good example of how we can leverage our relationships and deep understanding of the telecommunications sector to support an investment process.

"There have been a number of transactions involving private equity in the sector recently and we see no sign of this abating. M&A in the sector continues to be vibrant."

Richard Shaw, Investment Director at GCP, added: "Knight was instrumental in ensuring that we were at the forefront of the Arrow process and able to provide insight into the sector to complement our other due diligence streams."

The latest data from the Markit/REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation) Report on Jobs showed a rise in the volume of permanent staff placements during August, following decreases seen in the preceding two months around the Brexit vote. Short-term staff billings also increased at its strongest rate since May.

Reading-based businesses now have access to ultra-fast Internet services through CityFibre's launch partner BtL.
 
Approximately 30km of pure fibre network bolsters Reading's reputation as an emerging smart city, promoting business incubation units and the use of the University of Reading's city centre campus to exhibit and test innovative ideas.

BtL will work closely with CityFibre to encourage businesses across the city to connect.
 
Rob Lamden, MD at BtL, said: "We have been observing demand for ultra-fast services grow exponentially in recent years, and this project has the potential to unlock a tide of demand for faster, more resilient and more affordable services.

"Businesses can now stop concerning themselves with bandwidth restrictions and instead optimise their operations, improving their experience and driving the bottom line."
 
Greg Mesch, CEO of CityFibre, added: "Our network is designed to accommodate Reading's current and future digital needs, from connecting public sector sites, schools and hospitals to powering the masts and small cells needed to deliver 4G and even 5G mobile coverage. Connecting businesses large and small is only the first step in Reading's Gigabit City journey."

Cyber security provider F-Secure and ten research organisations have co-founded a consortium in response to concerns that increasing efforts to secure digital infrastructure and data may come at the expense of European rights and values.

The CANVAS (Constructing an Alliance for Value-driven Cyber Security) consortium brings together participants from various scientific traditions and fields to structure and disseminate research regarding the ethical, legal, empirical and technological issues related to cyber security.

It aims to create resources that inform policy makers, experts and the public on the development of cyber security technologies and policies that offer security without sacrificing emerging needs, such as basic access rights.

"Right now everyone's struggling to secure digital assets," said Sean Sullivan, security advisor, F-Secure.

"Doing nothing is not an option given the capabilities of today's attackers, but at the same time, being too heavy handed harms innocent people and companies looking to make the most out of new technology.

"Governments, companies and the public are coming to the European cyber security industry with questions about how to make security both effective and practical for their needs, and CANVAS is going to help us get answers to the people that need them."

The project is supported by three years of funding from the European Union and the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation.

"Cyber security is becoming more important as people and societies are relying more on digital infrastructure than ever before," said Dr. Markus Christen, senior research fellow and CANVAS project coordinator, University of Zurich.

"But at the same time, it's important that we avoid burning the village in order to save it. Values like autonomy, privacy and equality need to be maintained while we're securing systems and data, and CANVAS will work with people, companies and policy makers to help them balance these interests."

SSE Enterprise Telecoms has added two more data centres to its national fibre network. Customers of Ark and Datum's data centres, both located in Farnborough, now have access to SSE Enterprise Telecoms' range of Carrier Ethernet, dark fibre and optical networking services.

SSE Enterprise Telecoms has more than 70 commercial data centres on-net; and since lighting up the two Farnborough facilities SSE Enterprise Telecoms has signed its first deal with Efar, a Southern Communications Group Company, to deliver a 10Gbps wave between Ark and Equinix LD5 in Slough.

"By connecting both Ark and Datum's data centres we're continuing our expansion plans to bring networking solutions to the most strategically placed facilities in the UK," said Colin Sempill, Managing Director of SSE Enterprise Telecoms.

Vaioni Wholesale has set-up more interconnects with cloud partners including Gamma and TalkTalk to meet growing demand for end-to-end QoS on SIP and related services.

Sachin Vaish, MD of Vaioni, said: "Our interconnects have been in place for sometime but we are seeing strong demand from channel partners to directly interconnect to key providers of various cloud services.

"As the connectivity provider, we are more than happy to help our partners achieve these goals, including interconnects with cloud providers such as Microsoft Azure and AWS, as well as some standard ones.

Vaioni has embarked on a wider roll out of interconnects to cloud providers in line with demand, and has pledged to work with partners on new interconnect requirements that may, for example, help them to win bigger deals.

"We always set-up multiple connections to ensure resilience," added Vaish. "With the interconnects in place, our partners can reassure their customers that they are receiving end-to-end quality of service, guaranteed lower latency, privacy and security."

Former Azzurri CFO Andrew Marshall has taken up the same role at Solar Communications. His appointment comes as Solar continues to develop into a managed services provider focused on organic and acquisition growth.

Marshall's new remit is to replicate past successes in driving commercial and operational efficiencies while working with investors and the board to identify M&A opportunities.

His 20-plus years industry experience includes stints with Cable&Wireless, Schlumberger, Nokia Siemens Networks and most recently leading Azzurri in its exit to Maintel.

As CFO he's worked with lenders to restructure the business's financing and reposition the organisation around its growth products.

Marshall said: "Solar is at an exciting stage in its development and through a combination of organic growth and targeted acquisitions there is an opportunity to build a more successful business."

Solar CEO John Whitty added: "Andrew has demonstrated his ability to drive transformation in a way that improves efficiency, effectiveness and profitability."

Tech Data has sealed a Europe-wide agreement with Silent Circle, a provider of mobile security.

"With an end-to-end enterprise privacy package that incorporates devices, software and services, Silent Circle has created a solution to enable organisations to face the growing challenge of securing their business communication," said Luc Van Huystee, VP, Tech Data Mobile.

Metronet (UK) has provided National Museums Liverpool (NML) with a fully managed MPLS solution in partnership with Gardner Systems.

National Museums Liverpool manages eight museums and galleries within the Liverpool city region including the Merseyside Maritime Museum, the Museum of Liverpool and the Walker Art Gallery.

Sam Planche, IT Technical Manager at National Museums Liverpool said: "Our museums and galleries attract more than 2.8 million visitors each year and our old connection needed updating. Metronet (UK) was able to provide this with a rapid turnaround."

The solution provided was fully wireless, delivering a range of different speeds dependent on the requirement for each site.

Rob Townsend, Marketing Director at Metronet (UK), added: "This solution means that National Museums Liverpool can have all its sites on one network, allowing its staff to concentrate on their cultural offer without worrying about the connectivity infrastructure."

The technologies defining the Fourth Industrial Revolution, more commonly referred to as Industry 4.0, are being powered by cloud infrastructures, according to The Oracle Cloud: Opening up the Road to Industry 4.0 report.

The document states that from robotics to artificial intelligence, businesses view the cloud as a blank canvas upon which to build their innovation strategies.

The research investigated how companies in EMEA are managing the transition to Industry 4.0 and sheds light on which technologies they are investing in to continue succeeding in the data-driven age.

The majority of businesses are currently implementing, or plan to implement, new innovation strategies: 62% have or plan to implement robotics technology; 60% have or plan to work with Artificial Intelligence.

Most companies also recognise a cloud infrastructure is required to bring these technologies to life - 60% believe an enterprise cloud platform provides the opportunity for organisations to capitalise on innovation such as robotics and artificial intelligence.

A large majority of businesses are on course with their plans to establish a single integrated cloud model across their organisation.

While only 8% currently have an integrated cloud model in place that works for legacy applications and new platforms, 36% say they are implementing one this year and another 40% expect to do so in 2017. Only 5% have no plans in place to make this transition.

Pascal Giraud, Senior Director IaaS Foundation & Cloud Platform Oracle EMEA, said: "Despite an uncertain economic climate, businesses understand that at the speed of today's market a first-mover advantage has never been more valuable. Some of the world's most successful companies, including Uber and Airbnb, were founded at the peak of the financial crisis. This just goes to show that opportunity never sleeps.

"The dawn of Industry 4.0 is seeing companies fall into either an innovation fast lane or slow lane, and the rise of integrated cloud infrastructures has made it cheaper and easier for businesses to outpace the competition."

Tim Jennings, Chief Research Officer at Ovum, noted: "As businesses continue the process of digitisation, they require a flexible and scalable digital infrastructure to underpin this change. An integrated cloud platform that delivers both infrastructure services and platform services enables enterprises to quickly develop new business solutions, taking advantage of new digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data and the Internet of Things."