Daisy: Top 2e2 customers pleased and reassured by buyout

Firm aims to return datacentre business to its former glory, claiming it has backing of clients and sound finances

Daisy claims that the 200-strong 2e2 datacentre customers it has saved are relieved that a company with strong financial backing is taking over the reins.

This morning, Daisy announced its takeover of the datacentre arm of 2e2, which fell into administration at the end of January.

Prior to the takeover, customers were asked last week to cough up £1m collectively to keep the datacentres going, which prompted some high-profile firms to abandon the reseller, including Atomic Weapons Establishment, Marks & Spencer, Kellogg's and Vodafone, according to reports.

Daisy's chief executive Matthew Riley insisted that while some customers did leave the VAR, most remain, and are pleased with the takeover.

He said: "I did a call with 15 of the top [datacentre] customers and they were all relieved that a company with such strong financial backing has bought it. They are pretty reassured now and think it is good news."

When asked if the new customers would be given the chance to switch provider if they wanted to, Riley said that they would be with Daisy "for the foreseeable future".

The takeover, which was agreed for an undisclosed sum, will also see 150 of 2e2's UK staff saved. 2e2 partner O2 saved 107 jobs as it announced its full takeover of its joint Unify venture. Last week, 627 staff were axed on a conference call and, in total, more than 1,000 of a total of 1,442 have been let go.

Following 2e2's demise, the viability of the buy-and-build model has been questioned, but Riley claimed that his firm, itself a rampant acquirer in recent years, is in much better financial health than its fallen rival.

He said: "I have said to the staff today, we are going to stick to the knitting and get back to what [2e2] was famous for before it went off in different directions. The difference with us is that Daisy has a very strong balance sheet. We have low debt, unlike 2e2, and we are looking to grow organically in the datacentre and managed services space.

"We have a very different model and we are very focused on providing the customer with core services which 2e2's foundation was based on."

He added that he put 2e2's demise down to "poor senior management and leadership as well as a lack of a financial system".