Onyx acquires Scottish reseller

Northern ISP bolsters growth plans with acquisition of IBM, SAP, Citrix and Microsoft partner Campbell Lee

Middlesbrough-based internet service provider Onyx has agreed the acquisition of Scottish IT company Campbell Lee for an undisclosed sum.

The two companies will work together across the north of England and will also continue to trade under the Campbell Lee name in Scotland. They are hoping to offer data storage facilities and workplace recovery centres. These will be linked by a network jointly owned and operated by Campbell Lee and Onyx.

Onyx chief executive Neil Stephenson said: "A number of things attracted us to Campbell Lee, it was very similar to our core business.

"We also really liked the people, who were fantastic, and their customer list was to die for. As soon as we met the people we felt we fitted very well."

Stephenson emphasised Onyx's desire to grow both "organically and acquisitively" over the rest of the year, but did not set any targets for future acquisitions.

Asked about the decision to maintain trading under the Campbell Lee name in Scotland, he said: "It's such a strong name. We would do nothing to damage the name and reputation of that business. The customers like that company and we are not precious about brand names."

Campbell Lee's managing director Jim Lee said: “Our customers will now have access to Onyx’s cutting-edge expertise in connectivity, hosting, network and data security while Onyx customers will be offered our ability to provide IBM, SAP, Citrix and Microsoft consultancy, programming and services.”