UKFast split in two after CEO's Branson holiday heart to heart

Lawrence Jones claims chat with friend and Virgin boss on his island paradise and earlier ski trip inspired him to create Enterprise division

UKFast boss Lawrence Jones has claimed a holiday chat with friend Richard Branson on the Virgin chief's private island paradise gave him the impetus to split his business in two.

Jones says that a conversation with Branson "about the challenges of managing growth" while the two were out jogging on Necker Island prompted him to decide to create the UKFast Enterprise arm. The newly separate unit will focus on complex bespoke arrangements for busy websites and blue-chip clients. The remainder of the business will continue to offer lower-end services to SMBs and mid-market firms.

"Richard suggested following the original Virgin style by splitting UKFast into separate divisions as we reach the 100-plus-people mark," added Jones. "I have contemplated this long and hard, but as the business continues to grow in size it was becoming increasingly clear that there are two sections appearing, both with very different requirements."

According to the chief executive of the Mancunian firm this is not the first time that some holiday advice from Branson has seen him make changes to his business. An inspirational chinwag during a trip to the Swiss ski resort of Verbier last year "gave me the courage to appoint Jonathan Bowers as managing director" of UKFast, said Jones.

"I have known Richard for a long time and have learned some invaluable lessons from him," he said.

UKFast claims that turnover grew by about a quarter to hit £20m in 2012. It hopes to fuel further growth through the recent acquisition and launch of four datacentres, as well as a nascent security and disaster recovery division and the upcoming eCloud service, which it is pitching as a "rival to the likes of Amazon Web Services and Rackspace".

Necker Island, in the British Virgin Islands, has been owned by Branson since 1978, when he purchased it for £180,000. After spending several years and a good chunk of cash turning the archipelago into an exclusive resort, the island is now available for rent at a reported £30,000-plus a day.

It can house up to 28 guests, and Branson has hosted an array of big names there, including Princess Diana, Tony Blair, Kate Moss, Kofi Annan and Harry Styles.