'We've quietly been in the UK for a few years' - Arkphire boss on growing globally

Paschal Naylor says £60m contract will act as a springboard for further UK expansion

Irish MSP Arkphire is plotting further UK expansion after securing a £60m managed services contract with the London Clinic, according to CEO Paschal Naylor.

The chief exec (pictured) said that the deal is one of the largest that the firm has secured in the UK and will provide a springboard for further growth.

"We have quietly been in the UK market over the last couple of years," he told CRN. "A good portion of our business is in the UK now.

"We're not just sitting here in Ireland running an Irish-centred business. We're operating a European and UK business. We've got in UK healthcare at a sizeable level so it's a tremendous opportunity for us to expand and develop further."

Naylor said that around a fifth of Arkphire's headcount is based in the UK, at around 50 employees.

He added that Arkphire's global capabilities are underestimated, with a chunk of the firm's business also coming from the US.

"We have a strong multinational business," he said. "We're known in San Francisco for being the go-to partner for multinationals when they come to Europe and the UK.

"We have been working with some of those customers since 2004. We have a lot of the big digital companies and they see us as the partner to get their employees up and running or to do their datacentres."

Naylor has headed up Arkphire since leading an MBO back in 2011. The firm has since taken on investment from private capital firm Bregal Milestone completed the acquisition of fellow Irish MSP Trilogy - creating a €150m-revenue business.

Naylor said that any future acquisitions will likely focus on geographic expansion, particularly in Asia, where Arkphire's customers want to grow their own presence.

The firm has already started that process, acquiring Generic Technologies earlier this year.

"The whole workplace, hybrid cloud portfolio is the first priority," Naylor said. "And our customers are looking for us to go in Asia. They want the same service in Europe and in Asia so they have fewer supply chain concerns.

"We're very excited about growth. We always felt we were organic guys, but you find companies that are valuable - like Trilogy."