Moffat buyout is capital idea for Onyx

Paved with gold: Onyx claims its London office and datacentre will boost its national reputation

Reseller Onyx Group has strengthened its London presence and widened its financial services customer base through the acquisition of Moffat Communications.

The City of London-based firm was formerly owned by auditor Grant Thornton and specialises in the hedge fund market. Headquartered in Middlesbrough, Onyx recently stressed its desire to beef up its national reputation.

The Moffat buyout provides a London office and datacentre, and Onyx claimed it would also benefit from increased hosting and virtualisation expertise. The capital firm's 23 employees will be integrated with Onyx's 100 existing staff. Moffat's top customers include Deutsche Bank and Oriel Securities.

Half of Onyx's turnover is generated in Scotland, following a series of acquisitions north of the border. The VAR claimed that having a strong presence in the UK's two biggest financial hubs – London and Edinburgh – would give it further clout in the financial services space.

Onyx claims to have quadrupled revenue from £3m to £12m over the last two years and has targeted sales of more than £20m this year. The firm now has more than 3,000 customers across the UK and chief executive Neil Stephenson claimed its national star was in the ascendant.

"This acquisition signals the continued strategic development of Onyx,” he said. “We grew out of the north east but our recent and concentrated growth in Scotland and across the rest of the UK illustrates that we are developing into a national IT company at a quick pace, with UK-wide infrastructure, customers and partners.”

“The deal signals exciting times for us as it offers a new dimension to the existing Onyx offering, providing a fully comprehensive IT package to customers in the financial services sector and beyond.”