ukfast.net ltd is a business-to-business hosting company based in manchester , uk .

it is principally known for managed hosting , cloud services , and colocation .

the business also owns a data centre complex in trafford park , manchester .

ukfast

these are all the companies that ukfast has acquired . ukfast ' s latest acquisition was in jul 2013 .
glassdoor has 72 ukfast . net reviews submitted anonymously by ukfast . net employees . read employee reviews and ratings on glassdoor to decide if ukfast . net is right for you .
ukfast ' s ceo , lawrence jones , currently has an approval rating of 51 % . ukfast ' s primary competitors are
ukfast is a cloud infrastructure firm that offers managed server hosting and collocation services . ukfast is a private company . lawrence jones is the ceo of ukfast and has an approval rating of 51 from owler members . ukfast has received a total of $ 58 . 5m in funding . ukfast ' s top competitor is node4 , led by andrew gilbert , who is their ceo . ukfast has 130 followers on owler .
owler has collected 13 screenshots of ukfast ' s website since may 2014 . the latest ukfast website design screenshot was captured in sep 2017 .
since ukfast was founded in 1999 , it has participated in 1 round of funding . in total ukfast has raised $ 58 . 5m . ukfast ' s funding round was on apr 2016 for a total of $ 58 . 5m
you can ' t beat something that ' s perfect . ukfast is outstanding .
i worked at ukfast . net full - time ( more than a year )
i worked at ukfast . net full - time ( more than 3 years )
security heavyweight andy hague joins ukfast , heading up its security division , secarma .
ukfast currently has 35 , 869 followers on twitter . as of february 2015 ukfast had 5 , 994 followers . that ' s a 498 percent increase in 2 years
ukfast currently has 7 , 673 fans on facebook . as of february 2015 ukfast had 6 , 448 fans . that ' s a 18 percent increase in 3 years
pulsant is seen as one of ukfast ' s biggest rivals . pulsant was founded in reading , england } in 1995 . like ukfast , pulsant also operates in the it services sector . compared to ukfast , pulsant generates $ 87 . 2m more revenue .
ukfast is the uk it awards ' ' employer of the year ' 2010 . the judges praised ukfast , commenting :
training , development and innovation have enabled ukfast to deliver outstanding performance to clients while maintaining a dedicated , motivated and talented team .
sme / ukfast snaps up 1 archway for latest data centre thebusinessdesk . com
news / ukfast launches ' uk ' s biggest cloud ' thebusinessdesk . com
hostway is perceived as one of ukfast ' s biggest rivals . hostway was founded in 1998 , and is headquartered in chicago , illinois . like ukfast , hostway also competes in the it services space . hostway generates $ 18 . 9m more revenue vs . ukfast .
i have been working at ukfast . net full - time ( less than a year )
i applied online . the process took a week . i interviewed at ukfast . net .
glassdoor gives you an inside look at what it ' s like to work at ukfast . net , including salaries , reviews , office photos , and more . this is the ukfast . net company profile . all content is posted anonymously by employees working at ukfast . net .
© ukfast . net limited 1999 - 2018 . all rights reserved . uk ' s best for dedicated server and cloud hosting ukfast . net limited , registered in england , company registration number 03845616 , registered office : ukfast campus , birley fields , manchester , england , m15 5qj
i am super impressed with ukfast . . . we have already moved all of our critical applicatio
hosting company ukfast is now integrated with shopware are offering optimised webhost for ecommerce m . . .
ukfast is a cloud infrastructure firm that offers managed server hosting and collocation services . ukfast was founded in 1999 . ukfast ' s headquarters is located in manchester , england , gb m15 5qj . it has raised 58 . 5m in 1 round . the latest round was in . . .
ukfast ceo lawrence jones is awarded an mbe for services to the digital economy in the new year ' s honours list . jones noted that the honour recognises the extraordinary effort of the whole ukfast team .
( telecompaper ) uk cloud hosting provider ukfast announced that it director neil lathwood is stepping . . .
dr chris folkerd , director of enterprise technology at ukfast discusses how businesses can separate t . . .
( telecompaper ) uk cloud hosting provider ukfast is opening up its apprenticeship training programme t . . .
cloud hosting firm ukfast is further cementing its commitment to bridging manchester ' s technical skil . . .
ukfast ' s investors in people accreditation demonstrates our ongoing commitment to developing a passionate , supportive team .
ukfast has enjoyed a year of growth after the popularity of cloud computing skyrocketed . for the year end december 2014 , ukfast reported a 24 per cent turnover increase from £23 . 4m to £28 . 9m .
ukfast ' s chief executive lawrence jones said setting up shop in london is not a snub for manchester .
ukfast says the deal will enables it to expand its cloud service and improve connectivity for manchester’s online businesses .
corporate m & a legal specialist nicola frost joins the team ahead of ukfast ' s ambitious growth plans .
node4 is the top competitor of ukfast . node4 is a private company that was founded in derby , england in 2004 . node4 operates in the internet software industry . node4 has 231 more employees vs . ukfast .
( telecompaper ) uk hosting provider ukfast has reported an 18 percent increase in organic revenue for . . .
ukfast was founded in september 1999 by welsh businessman lawrence jones and his partner gail jones . [ 2 ]
web hosting provider ukfast has rejected a takeover offer of more than £200m , according to its founder lawrence jones .
an ispa spokesperson said ,
a unanimous judging panel felt that ukfast was the clear and decisive winner . ukfast offers clients a free and full daily back - up service as standard and an impressive service level guarantee with a firm commitment to uptime . ukfast offers personal and friendly customer support , with a technical person promising to pick up the phone within three rings . with this commitment to customer service and support , ukfast “wins hands down” . ”
british cloud hosting firm ukfast is taking its commitment to the health and wellbeing of its team to . . .
ukfast . net limited . free business summary taken from official companies house information . free alerts . registered as 03845616
lawrence jones , managing director of ukfast , is en magazine ' s technology entrepreneur of the year 2010 . judges were impressed with the leadership that helped develop ukfast into one of the uk ' s quickest growing technology firms .
thanks @ ukfast @ lawrence _ jones @ gailjonesukfast for an amazing treat to @ chesterzoo . thoroughly enjoyed it xx urltoken
ukfast campus , 1 archway , birley fields ( 5 , 213 . 05 mi ) manchester , united kingdom m15 5qj
manchester hosting specialist ukfast launches a new cloud - based solution , fastdesk , encouraging the continued rise of flexible working .
british cloud firm ukfast ' s current it director neil lathwood takes on a new role as chief technology . . .
ukfast , a csp headquartered in manchester , united kingdom , has announced the launch of its security m . . .
ukfast was proud to receive hrh the earl of wessex as a guest at its manchester campus today , during a royal visit to manchester . the earl met a number of ukfast’s staff and learned more about their contribution to manchester’s thriving technology sector .
ukfast has employees and is the fifth highest among it ' s top 10 competitors . the top 10 competitors average 326 .
the ceo of ukfast is calling on education chiefs to end the relabelling of low - skilled jobs as appren . . .
at ukfast , we ' re very excited to announce our very special partnership with the lpi has just stepped . . .
an ispa spokesperson said , “the judges agreed that ukfast can cater for the hosting requirements of any business . it was felt that ukfast can provide good security and tech support with a solid awareness of the applications necessary to run a successful business . ”
this month ceo of ukfast lawrence jones received an mbe for his services to the digital economy . it is a testament to the hard work lawrence has put into helping ukfast ' s clients grow , and in doing so , helping the digital economy .
ukfast is set to offer nhs services through the new health and social care network ( hscn ) after receiving accreditation as a supplier from nhs digital . the move makes ukfast the only provider to offer hscn connectivity directly from a government - approved data centre .
ukfast is named manchester business of the year ( £10 - 25m ) at the manchester evening news business of the year awards .
lawrence established ukfast because he was so disappointed with the hosting when he tried to set up a new online gallery in 1999 .
ukfast ' s revenue is the fourth highest among it ' s top 10 competitors . the top 10 competitors average $ 39m .
in 2013 ukfast opened an office in glasgow [ 9 ] and in 2015 opened a further office in london . [ 10 ]
manchester - based cloud firm ukfast has opened a london office as it looks to grow its business with customers based in the capital .
r then they should be blamed , not ukfast . we lost a total of around 28 hours of downtime but cannot fault the communicat
we announce our random acts of kindness year . ukfast ' s 2014 is focussed on giving back to the community however we can .
your solution is only ever housed in our il4 and iso - accredited , ultra - secure data centres . and as an exclusively uk - based company , hosting with ukfast offers guaranteed data sovereignty . ukfast is a government approved supplier through the g - cloud 9 framework .
huddled began chris marsh’s interview by asking him to explain his company in a sentence , with his answer being that ukfast is a dedicated serving hosting provider with data centres in manchester . chris went on to explain that it’s ukfast’s people that set it apart from its competitors .
from the minute i joined ukfast i felt apart of the team . the induction process really solidifies the ride that you ' re in for , and the investment that is being made in you as an individual . within 3 months of being a part of ukfast i had progressed onto my next role within the business . if it wasn ' t for relocation i would definitely still be part of the ukfast family .
by separating areas of the ukfast operation into individual registered businesses , jones is creating more opportunities for top talent to develop leadership skills , increasing staff retention . the businesses include building and office refurbishment firm ukfast space , technology magazine businesscloud and cyber security and ethical hacking specialists secarma .
we ' ve got that # fridayfeeling here at ukfast - fancy a hula , anyone ? while some of us are commiserati . . .
ukfast has implemented an internal quality management system which is certified to the standards of iso 9001 ; ensuring continual quality of products and services .
ukfast helps to rebuild harvey ' s den , an autistic seven - year - old boy ' s sensory room , after it was raided and torched on christmas eve . the whole ukfast team came together to rebuild the boy ' s room and landscape the family ' s garden .
the entrepreneur , who founded ukfast in 1999 , said : “the nice thing about appointing advisers is that you don’t have to take their advice .
our milestones represent key moments in ukfast ' s history , providing a snapshot of some of the achievements that we ' re really proud of .
fast - growing manchester cloud firm ukfast is driving its rapid expansion into the channel and public sector markets with the acquisition of a london office .
ukfast launches ' drag and drop ' uk - based storage solution , ecloud vault to add to it ' s record - breaking ecloud range .
ukfast sponsor raspberry pi project to create an internet cafe at a south african community centre , providing a revenue stream and tech skills for the centre .
it has been an interesting week . ukfast , finalists in the national business awards , winners of 2 ispa accreditations , but the icin . . .
hosting and data centre specialist ukfast has cut the ribbon on a new £14 million complex , staking a claim for the largest data centre operation in manchester .
hosting and data centre specialist ukfast has cut the ribbon on a new £14 million complex , staking a claim to the largest data centre operation in manchester .
ukfast is the uk ' s largest privately - owned hosting provider with over 17 years experience in cloud and dedicated hosting . all of our . . .
fast - growing manchester hosting firm ukfast is today announcing the creation of a raft of new places on its popular it and software development apprenticeship programmes , with applications for the it scheme opening this week . since the launch of ukfast’s apprenticeship scheme in 2013 , more than 50 apprentices have joined the award - winning tech firm on a two - year programme , developed and delivered by on - site teachers who’ve recently made the transition from public sector schools to ukfast’s classroom .
we invested in one of the biggest team events in the history of ukfast with a trip to chester zoo to say a big thank you to the team for a fantastic start to the year . with over 700 ukfast friends and family in tow , zoofari was the perfect way to reward and motivate our team .
it’s been a great day at @ chesterzoo with my family and the @ ukfast team for # ukfastzoofari . . time for a bbq in the sun ! urltoken
our commitment to managing ukfast ' s carbon footprint has led to our iso 14001 accreditation . this international certificate evaluates how well an organisation manages its environmental responsibilities .
ukfast is one of the uk ' s leading cloud , managed hosting and colocation providers , supplying dedicated server hosting , critical application hosting , and cloud hosting solutions .
cloud hosting firm ukfast is still officially manchester’s best place to work , after being named ninth best workplace in the sunday times top 100 best companies to work for .
ukfast cemented its position as a great workplace , throwing a festival to thank its employees for another year of industry - leading service and support . the festival , ukfest , saw a two - day music line up , fairground rides and a 100ft inflatable assault course enjoyed by all of the ukfast team and their friends and family .
leading british hosting firm ukfast announces a five - year partnership with urltoken to support the development of the popular online booking site’s technology infrastructure . the deal sees the online accommodation site migrate its web hosting arrangements from a colocation solution with atos in favour of a bespoke - built , cloud - based solution , developed in partnership with ukfast .
mr jones spoke from verbier in switzerland , where he said he was on a £500 , 000 training and team - building paragliding retreat with ukfast’s r & d staff .
earlier this month ukfast announced that it would be taking on 150 new staff for data centre projects in the area , seeking to grow its headcount to 350 by 2014 .
secarma , the cyber security business owned by ukfast ceo lawrence jones mbe , has confirmed the acquisition of altrincham - based application security specialists pentest limited for an undisclosed sum .
cloud computing firm ukfast launches a new self - service , open source cloud platform , built on openstack and hosted entirely in the uk with no vendor lock - ins .
ukfast ceo lawrence jones continues his record of exceptional rewards and incentives by giving his long - serving employees a record bonus of £10 , 000 for ten years ' service .
in 2013 the firm launched ecloud , a range of cloud hosting services whose hardware infrastructure reportedly cost £12 million to build . [ 5 ] in that year , the business turned over £23 . 4m . [ 6 ] for the year ending 31 december 2014 , ukfast reported a 24 per cent turnover increase from £23 . 4m to £28 . 9m . between 2011 and 2015 , ukfast invested more than £25m into capital expenditure projects including the development of four data centres and the flagship ukfast campus . [ 7 ]
we believe ukfast is the best place in the world to work . combining a brilliant working environment with continuous professional development and amazing perks , we are dedicated to keeping employee satisfaction high . whether you ' re a seasoned it technician or a school - leaver looking for the next step , ukfast could be the place for you . don ' t just take our word for it ? give us a call and arrange a show round our incredible offices and come and see for yourself what working for ukfast is all about .
a job at ukfast will change the way you think about work . our outstanding purpose - built headquarters and trips all over the world help you to grow personally and professionally .
well , i used to work at ukfast , before i exported myself to sweden , and i can heartily recommend them . great place to work , full of lovely and knowledgea
ukfast and manchester high school for girls , one of the city’s top performing schools , have joined forces in a bid to tackle the widening gender gap across the tech industries .
at ukfast , our customers can expect the highest levels of dedicated service from a team of highly trained and experienced systems engineers , on - site in the uk24 / 7 .
leading north west charity , the christie , has been announced as the official charity partner for this year ' s ukfast city of salford 10k race . runners who take part in the ukfast city of salford 10k on sunday 4th september can run for the christie and raise vital funds for the christie nhs , one of the largest cancer treatment centres in europe .
hosting and colocation firm ukfast has taken home its second award in two years running at the skills for business awards , recognising its commitment to changing education in businesses across the city .
ukfast provides secure web hosting to clients worldwide , offering hosting services certified to the iso 27001 : 2005 standard - ensuring the security of your data and that of your customers ' .
we want ukfast to be the company that brings innovation back to britain . i want to have taken every single employee out to wales to climb mount snowdon , and i want us to turn ukfast into a £100 million turnover firm . we’re currently on £20 + million so it’s a big ambition but there’s nothing that’s going to stand in our way of achieving it .
chris’ favourite moment at ukfast to date has been the work the company did for harvey’s den . many will remember news of harvey ratcliff breaking in late december 2013 , as the autistic boy’s state - of - the - art sensory shed had been torched by arsonists . ukfast made the decision to rebuild harvey’s den , transforming it into the ‘den to end all dens’ .
ukfast were amazing throughout . the team always want to work with us ; they see our problems as their problems and we honestly don ' t know where we would be without them .
technology firm ukfast today announces that it is approved to supply 21 separate cloud offerings – across hosting , software and support – through the latest iteration of the government’s g - cloud framework .
ukfast is continuing its long - term investment in making manchester the uk ' s number one tech city with a £2 . 3 million upgrade at the firm ' s data centre complex .
hosted in our wholly - owned , iso - certified uk data complex , ecloud forms the backbone of ukfast’s extensive cloud hosting portfolio and consists of ecloud public , hybrid , private and flex .
leading british cloud and hosting firm ukfast today announces the appointment of kristina mcguirk as marketing director , as it looks to triple the size of its marketing function and build on impressive recent results .
hosting firm ukfast is slashing the price of its self - service , open source cloud platform ecloud flex , as the cloud price battle with amazon web services ( aws ) continues to rage .
ukfast is to launch a master of business administration ( mba ) scholarship with manchester metropolitan university , giving one budding entrepreneur the chance to join the highly - valued business programme later this year .
cloud hosting firm ukfast has joined forces with the dean trust to launch a raspberry pi cafe , bringing hands - on tech and computer science education to broadoak school in partington , greater manchester .
ukfast’s public sector hosting solutions already comply with all the required government standards – so you don’t have to worry about them . our solutions might just be your ticket to the public sector market .
ukfast received the data centre solutions awards’
private cloud product of the year
in 2012 and the datacenterdynamics award for
innovation in outsourcing
in 2013 . [ 16 ] [ 17 ]
ukfast is a carbon neutral business and has achieved pas 2060 standard . we work with world leaders in carbon management to offset emissions by supporting hydro - electric projects verified by the voluntary carbon standard .
we ' re passionate about customer service and support . if you are a ukfast client use the numbers below to contact our award - winning support team . alternatively log in to myukfast via the links below .
technology firm ukfast is hailing another stellar year for its flagship cloud range , ecloud , as annual recurring revenue from its exclusively uk - based cloud service grows 38 % in a year to £13 . 79m .
this week , huddled invited ukfast’s chris marsh into the online ventures group recording studio to find out all about how he sees manchester business , and what his opinions on the most influential businesses in manchester are .
spanning six public sectors – defence , emergency services , education , healthcare , and both local and central government – ukfast has earned over 10 accreditations to become one of the uk’s leading public sector hosting providers .
voted for by the industry , ukfast has won multiple awards for excellence in the hosting industry at the prestigious internet services providers ' association ( ispa uk ) ; including best business host and business customer service .
ukfast was placed in the top 50 of the sunday times tech track 100 list in both 2009 and 2010 , representing one of the fastest growing private technology companies in britain from over the past three years .
ukfast ceo lawrence jones mbe today announces the firm ' s commitment to reduce spiralling graduate debt by creating a £1 million “gradcash” fund to directly contribute to paying off student loans for new recruits joining their graduate scheme .
in the same year , ukfast received the national business awards
employer of the year
award and the institute of customer service
employee engagement strategy of the year
awards . [ 18 ] [ 19 ]
so the ukfast community and education awards will now commence at 3 . 30pm - 5 : 30pm . we can ' t wait to see you all and celebrate the hard and inspirational work of so many special individuals !
it ' s been another strong year of growth at technology firm ukfast , as acceleration in the cloud market and high client retention rates drive a £5 . 7m increase in sales , taking turnover to £40m in 2016 .
despite being a new entrant to the list in 2010 , ukfast topped the ' most fun and friendly workplace ' category and also achieved fifth for ' learning and development ' in the uk great places to work awards .
between 2005 and 2009 , ukfast won six internet service providers association awards and was named
best hosting provider
for four years running . [ 11 ] [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] [ 15 ]
ukfast currently provides hosting for 4 , 000 clients in the uk , including virgin and microsoft , and is looking to continue to grow its data centre presence by attracting more tier 1 and tier 2 carriers and service providers .
ukfast ceo lawrence jones said that the additional data centre capacity will
dwarf
other operators in the manchester area , and will help drive competition that will benefit the city ' s bid to become a centre of innovation .
with 25 years in business , lawrence has run a number of businesses , ukfast and its people have become his passion . here are ten fast facts on lawrence ' s background to help you get to know our ceo .
we are committed to being the best , and to always exceeding our customers’ expectations . we attract and host the most successful organisations on the internet . read 10 reasons why businesses like yours have chosen ukfast as their hosting partner .
manchester - based cloud computing provider ukfast has been revealed as the new sponsor of the cheshire cricket league in a 10 - year deal worth £50 , 000 which also sees the firm boosting tech use by member clubs and the league .
chris’ business predictions for 2014 include businesses helping others , as he sees them as having a responsibility to help education facilities . as for the companies that will do well this year , chris picked huddled and , of course , ukfast .
manchester - based cloud and managed hosting specialist ukfast has delivered on its 2016 promise to create 100 new jobs , despite brexit uncertainty , with headcount rising across the firm ' s associated brands from 250 to 350 in less than one year .
as one of the main campaign sponsors , ukfast helps to raise £1 . 7m of toys for cash for kids mission christmas , ensuring that more than 36 , 000 in poverty in greater manchester will receive gifts from father christmas this year .
with ukfast we guarantee 100 % network uptime , ensuring your business is always online . and with proprotection ® you can combine extras such as 15min support response , 1 hour hardware replacement and proactive server monitoring to give you absolute peace of mind .
ukfast ceo lawrence jones mbe announces the acquisition of another cloud and cybersecurity service provider , secure information assurance ( s - ia ) , following the announcement of a £2 . 3 million investment to bolster his firm ' s government data centre space .
ukfast teamed up with local radio station , key 103 , to sponsor superhero day in aid of beechwood cancer care ; a charity to help and support young children , carers and family members who are affected by cancer and other life limiting illnesses .
ukfast was created in response to poor customer service . i was trying to build an online gallery and it was just a hassle . i thought , “i can do this better” and then set about trying to prove it . i decided that my goal was to build the best hosting provider in the uk . that’s still our goal today , in fact . we always strive to be better , more dynamic and more effective tomorrow than we are today . we don’t like to stand still at ukfast !
ukfast is the largest privately - owned hosting provider in the uk . we ' ve earned over 18 years experience in cloud technology and dedicated hosting . our focus is providing the highest levels of service possible and earning life - long loyalty from our customers .
the top 10 competitors in ukfast ' s competitive set are node4 , pulsant , hostway , hosting , liquid web , brightsolid , abiquo , coretx , tierpoint and hostgator . together they have raised over 130 . 4m between their estimated 3 . 3k employees .
ecloud combines cutting - edge technology from the world’s leading it providers with our cloud expertise and support to bring you a flexible , scalable and secure cloud solution . together , ukfast and ecloud exist to bring you the highest standard of cloud infrastructure for your business .
as a small business , lawrence negotiated a technical sponsorship for ukfast with the sale sharks premiership rugby club . the relationship continued for ten years with us holding the main sponsor position for two years until 2011 , now we are back with them from 2017 onwards .
if you’re a business that wants to broaden your horizons and be involved with the public sector , what accreditations are required , and how do they benefit you ? here are some examples of the public sector accreditations achieved by ukfast and how they can expand your business .
no two weeks are alike here at the ukfast campus . you ' ll be amazed at how much we manage to pack in . we ' re one big family , a single team which is dynamic , innovative , passionate , professional and supportive . ready to join us ?
over 150 apprentices affected by the collapse at bright future software attended a careers open day in the hunt for new employment . the event , hosted at ukfast campus in manchester , saw the apprentices meet face - to - face with a huge range of businesses looking to recruit new talent .
the first edition of the uk ' s newest business technology magazine has been published . businesscloud has been set up by former regional newspaper and magazine editor chris maguire and tech entrepreneur lawrence jones mbe , ceo of ukfast . the full colour magazine is 80 pages in size and will focus on
demystifying technology for a business audience
. the initial print run is for just under 20 , 000 copies . of these , 12 , 500 will be distributed in greater manchester by the manchester evening news , with the balance sent out to uk - wide businesses and customers of ukfast .
ukfast was set up in 1999 when the founders lawrence and gail tried to host their first domain name , thegallery . com . the experience was so painful they decided that the uk needed a british alternative in the cloud industry that offers value for money , whilst delivering the very . . .
here at ukfast , we use net promoter score ( nps ) so we can see how happy our clients are with our performance . we ' re incredibly proud of our industry - leading - and award winning - 24 / 7 / 365 customer service and believe our nps score reflects this passion .
ukfast announced that revenue from its ecloud range has grown by 82 . 9 % in the last year . the ecloud model has surpassed all expectations with cloud services now netting £9 . 9m a year , and the figure representing 27 % of total annual recurring revenue currently worth £37 . 2 million .
ukfast constantly delivers excellent customer service - collaborating with customers to ensure our ongoing service meets the ever - changing demands placed on their it infrastructure and service delivery . adaptable , we strive to deliver to your needs ; and as we own our own data we can make absolutely any service bespoke to you .
ukfast has been named the best medium - sized tech company to work for in the uk , placing fifth overall in medium category of the uk ' s best workplaces 2016 . the great workplaces lists rank the uk ' s workplaces based upon culture , health and wellbeing and engagement through employee surveys and external recognition .
we are one of the uk ' s leading hosting and colocation providers , supplying dedicated server hosting , critical application hosting , and cloud hosting solutions . we own , manage and operate the ukfast data centre complex , with over 30 , 000 sq . ft . of enterprise - grade , iso - certified facilities .
technology brand ukfast is taking its mission to inspire young digital talent to the next level , creating five new raspberry pi cafés for schools across greater manchester . the ‘cafés’ use raspberry pi computers which provide a simple and flexible tool for students to learn programming skills , giving them the opportunity to get hands - on with technology .
lawrence jones mbe has joined the local executive board of children ' s charity cash for kids . the ukfast ceo becomes a trustee of radio station key 103 ' s charity having helped to raise more than £1 . 4 million during last year ' s cash for kids mission christmas campaign and supporting the cause for several years .
at ukfast , we search out a very specific type of person when building and growing our team . we ' ve learned that the first step to delivering unbeatable customer service is creating the right company culture . we invest heavily in energising , rewarding and caring for our staff and , in return , our team is passionate about the service they provide .
cloud hosting firm ukfast is further cementing its commitment to bridging manchester’s technical skills gap by opening up its award - winning apprenticeship training programme to other businesses . the fast - growing hosting provider is set to open up its industry - accredited training facilities to the wider business community , after being approved by the government to join the register of apprenticeship training providers .
two people started ukfast together in 1999 , and since then our team has grown to over 260 - strong . those same two people , ceo lawrence and wife gail , are as active in the business today as they ever were . we have the experience of being , as well as supporting , both small and large businesses , which helps us to understand you .
web hosting group ukfast has spent £3 . 2m on the strategic acquisition of 1 archway just outside manchester , which it says will be the home of the city ' s biggest data centre . the 50 , 000 sq ft building on a two - acre site is opposite asda in hulme at the technopark which is part of manchester science park which has sold the site .
growth at one of the north ' s best - known firms looks set to continue as ukfast announces it is doubling the size of its hq in a landmark property deal . the deal sees the cloud and colocation business , run by tech entrepreneur lawrence jones mbe , secure a further 40 , 000 sq . ft . adjacent to its current campus in manchester science park .
ukfast has also featured in the sunday times
100 best small companies to work for
and the great place to work institute’s
best workplaces
lists , placing 28th and 12th respectively in 2014 , 25th and 5th respectively in 2013 , and 45th and 7th respectively in 2012 . [ 20 ] [ 21 ] [ 22 ] [ 23 ] [ 24 ] [ 25 ]
top - flight rugby union club sale sharks today announced the largest sponsorship deal in the history of the club , with manchester - based cloud and colocation firm ukfast . the undisclosed seven - figure deal sees the firm return as shirt sponsor of the club after a five - year break , with sale sharks ready to compete for the european champions cup this season after finishing sixth in the aviva premiership .
as one of the world ' s first carbon neutral hosting and data centre service providers , ukfast has over 13 years ' experience as a leader and innovator in the it and data centre arena . we offer a diverse range of services from dedicated servers , managed hosting and cloud solutions to carrier - neutral data centre and colocation services - while our accreditations highlight a commitment to quality through continuous improvement .
cyber security consultancy and ethical hacking specialist secarma today announces the appointment of paul harris to the role of managing director , as it prepares to challenge the biggest players in a rapidly expanding security market . secarma , owned by ukfast ceo lawrence jones mbe , boasts a team of more than 50 ethical hackers and security experts , following the acquisition of check and crest accredited security business pentest ltd in july 2016 .
i was born in wales , a place i spent a lot of energy trying to get away from when i was growing up but now try to escape back to whenever i can ! my background is actually in music ; i went to the durham chorister school and , when i moved to manchester , i made money by playing the piano in a variety of venues . i’m happily married to my wife , gail , with whom i founded ukfast in 1999 and we have three daughters .
as our services are engaged by more public sector bodies and as our activities in the channel continue to grow , it makes sense to have a presence in london ,
he said .
our g - cloud offerings are proving very popular and being here is important as more government systems move to the cloud .
we ' re aiming to have a large team in place here within the next two years and it will be fantastic to see the further development ukfast can achieve .
in this webinar datto svp mark banfield will lay out the vendor’s post - merger plans , and offer an insight into how partners can differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded market .
the european channel leadership forum is a unique 2 day conference . it brings together leading ceos from european vars and msps to discuss pressing issues , technologies and developments facing the industry , and also to network with no agenda .
attend the 2018 channel conference msp to hear real - life case studies from your peers and meet with leading industry vendors to find out about the latest technology to capitalise on .
new for 2018 : women in channel awards . designed to recognise the female role models that will inspire the next generation of females in the channel .
a survey conducted by crn in june 2018 reveals why some resellers are embracing propositions with enthusiasm and driving customer migration , while others are resisting the increasingly intense pull of the cloud .
to grow , to remain relevant to the customers , and to remain profitable , it channels ( in all their forms ) will have to master a number of business model transformations in the cloud and digital transformation era . read more to learn about the key transformations that it channels will need to address , in order to bring new capabilities to customers and be successful in the future .
like any highly competitive industry , the uk channel is packed with bitter rivalries . but that is not to say the uk ' s top resellers are above admitting a grudging respect for some of their peers , as we explore in this feature
the cost for each hour of downtime for medium sized company is a staggering $ 6 , 500 . that is a price tag that few businesses can afford to pay and is the reason that your it team needs to make sure they have a strong backup offering for their data . . .
looking forward to seeing most of our members at # ispas on thursday night @ themidlandq in manchester . we have @ andrewismaxwell hosting the event and live band @ kudosfunctions last chance to book your tickets ! urltoken
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every year we celebrate and showcase the very best in workplace engagement with our best companies to work for lists . earning a place gives your organisation a unique positive pr story on a regional and national platform and provides you with an opportunity to benchmark yourself against your competitors .
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the manchester based company has been a target of private equity groups and cash - rich major international hosting groups such as united internet , the owners of the 1 & 1 brand , and host europe .
mr jones said he has no intention of selling , however , in spite of appointing ey as corporate advisers and the takeover offer from a major player last month .
the web hosting industry has seen rapid consolidation in recent years as businesses have put pressure on providers to lower prices .
“ever since we appointed them people have been going round the big telcos saying we’re looking to sell .
“it would be a daft time to sell . the journey isn’t over and i’ve still got a lot to learn . ”
as well as scotching takeover rumours , he ruled out a flotation for the forseeable future , although admitted he had been tempted by the oversubscribed listing of ao world , also based in the north west .
uk fast reported underlying pre - tax profits of £8 . 5m last year on a turnover of £23 . 5m . in 2010 mr jones said he turned down a £53m bid .
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dcd is a global b2b events and media company , delivering unmatched insight and networking , to help the professionals driving the data center scale it infrastructure sector to make better strategic and operational decisions .
its new base is in the second home building in shoreditch and will act as a southern home for the firm , which has a scotland office in addition to its central - manchester hq and datacentres .
newly appointed commercial director lee hull is charged with growing the business in the capital , by focusing particularly on the channel and the public sector .
the question for me isn ' t about tech city vs tech north or manchester vs london ,
he said .
it ' s about collaboration between all uk tech interests in order to get the best results for our country and economy . i believe in buying british because we have the talent and the resources to deliver the best in everything we do . tech is no exception .
being based in shoreditch , in one of the main tech hubs in the uk , makes perfect sense . in manchester we are right at the heart of the tech and digital community and we want to build a similar network here .
urltoken © 2008 - 2017 . urltoken is a trading name of regional media services ltd . ( 07111349 ) vat number . ( 124302954 )
into this multi - million pound empire we all now know ? did you know it all started from him trying to build an online gallery ? lawrence stops by yhp to share his story .
i think that , if you’re a natural entrepreneur , you don’t view obstacles as barriers ; they’re just things to jump over . if i’d have started out thinking , “this is going to be so hard” then i might not have done it . i’ve always got one eye on the horizon so i think that helped in the early days . i suppose the hard thing was money because , for the first few years , we were the worst paid people in the company . we paid ourselves the minimum wage at times because we were focused on the bigger goal and new that it was what we had to do to stay afloat and keep growing .
i still had money trickling in every month from the grand piano venture so gail and i funded it all ourselves without external help . money was tight , gail and i lived on cereal for a month , but we had belief in the success of our business model and kept persevering .
they were terrifying months . exhilarating but terrifying . we’d managed to get maybe five or so customers . i remember gail’s granddad coming to see our new office and i was so pleased when he sounded so impressed . then i realised that he had misunderstood , thinking that we had the whole building . having to explain that we just had that one poky room was painful but it made me even more determined for us to own a huge office of our own one day .
i’ve never thought enough was enough . i was always very mindful of the fact that , for me , this was the business that had to succeed . i was thirty and well aware that this was my chance to make or break it . starting up a business is a journey . you can’t just decide to do it and then give up on it . it’s a much more progressive thing than that and it takes some endurance . if you need that push to keep going then revisit the reasons why you started your business . for me , i want to spend my money on the people that mean a lot to me ; my family , my friends , my colleagues , and the charities that i support . whatever lit that fire in your belly in the first place should still be burning in there somewhere so reconnect with that when times get hard .
i’m an avid squash player and , when things get hectic , i just hit the court . i have a coach and just spend the hour in that little box channelling all of my focus into trying to beat him ! any worries about the business are left at the door and , whilst i inevitably have to pick them up again on the way out , having that break really helps to restore the balance . a burst of endorphins can do you the world of good ! gail and i also enjoy spending time with our colleagues outside of work , whether that is having a couple of drinks at the pub on a friday or renting out a cinema screen and taking a big group of people to see a film . i like to know my colleagues are achieving a good balance between work and play too . that’s really important here .


founded in 1998 by ceo , manny flores and cmo , alejandro ruelas , latinworks is a hispanic advertising agency headquartered in austin , texas .

latinworks evp and general manager , christy kranik , leads the day-to-day operations of the business , along with the support of executive creative director , gabriel garcia .

latinworks is a certified minority enterprise and member of the omnicom global network .

under the creative leadership of sergio alcocer ( 1998-2015 ) , latinworks was a nine-time cannes lions winner , a three-time ad age multicultural agency of the year , in 2010 , 2011 and 2012 and was featured twice on ad age ’s agency a-list before it was dropped from the list after mr. alcocer 's departure in 2015 .

latinworks

glassdoor has 56 latinworks reviews submitted anonymously by latinworks employees . read employee reviews and ratings on glassdoor to decide if latinworks is right for you .
a - b inbev ' s bud light is a longtime client of latinworks .
sergio alcocer is leaving u . s . hispanic shop latinworks | hispanic marketing - ad age
ask a question about working or interviewing at latinworks . our community is ready to answer .
the acquisition gives latinworks controlling interest of cultura with omnicom’s diversified agency services ( das ) unit retaining its minority interest ( 49 percent ) in the dallas shop , said manny flores , ceo and managing partner , latinworks , in a telephone interview . omnicom also is a minority stakeholder in latinworks .
latinworks also created hispanic and general - market ads for the chelada versions of budweiser and bud light .
the addition of cultura staffers will expand the number of latinworks’ employees to about 100 from 85 , flores said .
like the entrepreneurial latinworks itself , which is only minority owned by omnicom , mr . ruelas and his latinworks co - founder manny flores will own a majority share in sibling , with a 49 % stake for gsd & m . ;
knipp will work alongside christy kranik , who moves to managing director from latinworks’ vp , account management , to help clients ease into the changeover . knipp and kranik report to sergio alcocer , president and chief creative officer , latinworks , per flores .
it will be based in austin with executive creative director rafael serrano leading creative duties . serrano previously served as creative director for latinworks .
that opened the door for anheuser - busch , where latinworks became one of three u . s hispanic shops and competed for general market assignments , scoring three super bowl slots for bud light spots . after inbev bought a - b , the only hispanic agency left standing was latinworks .
consider at & t ; , which selected latinworks after a pitch against general - market agencies to launch a pre - paid wireless brand called aio wireless . the business , latinworks ' largest win in its 15 - year history , now represents 21 % of the agency ' s revenue .
in 2010 mr . flores estimates latinworks , which reliably posts double - digit revenue increases every year , will grow 10 % to 15 % .
and that ' s why it ' s called sibling . the new agency is the brainchild of alejandro ruelas , co - founder , managing partner and cmo of leading hispanic shop latinworks ; former latinworks creative director rafael
rafa
serrano ; and gsd & m ; ceo duff stewart .
“they certainly helped me achieve that growth with their communications to hispanic consumers , ” weiner says . “i couldn’t have done that without latinworks . ”
alejandro ruelas , cofounder , cmo and managing partner of latinworks , and ceo of gsd & m ; duff stewart will provide leadership and guidance .
“we are very excited to become part of latinworks , ” said cultura ceo and gm greg knipp , who joins latinworks as a managing director . “together , we will provide our clients with more of what they already receive : respect and value , as well as new ideas and innovations . ”
christy kranik , latinworks ' long - time svp and managing director , becomes evp and general manager , and steps up to run the entire agency .
obsessed with providing solutions that answer even the most challenging client business problem , latinworks is a unique and specialized agency with roots in the multicultural space .
if you are engaged and willing to work hard on ideas , latinworks is the right place for you . great list of clients and very intelligent people .
a seamless transition is planned to ensure that clients new to latinworks receive the same level of service and creative they’ve experienced in the past , flores said .
austin - based agencies gsd & m ; and latinworks have launched a multicultural agency called ‘sibling’ that will help brands appeal to a younger and more diverse audience .
mr . alcocer joined latinworks in 1999 , shortly after co - founders manny flores and alejandro ruelas , the agency ' s ceo and cmo , started latinworks in a basement in st . louis , missouri , the city where both had worked on the client side at anheuser - busch . the agency is minority owned by omnicom group .
the arboretum the domain bba management and booking latinworks spacex the modern jewish wedding f1 circuit of the americas qualcomm kennedy creative austin children ' s services hendricks gin bindlestiff inc .
competition for business is especially intense for hispanic agencies like latinworks as more general market shops go after expanding hispanic marketing budgets . not that latinworks has had to worry . the agency , in which omnicom has a minority stake , has continued to grow its client roster with high - profile accounts , even in the toughest years of the current downturn .
“latinworks had the most forward - thinking approach to the hispanic marketplace , and they had very good strategic thinking about branding and creating [ consumer ] archetypes , ” farfan says .
in ms . kranik ' s new role , latinworks ' creative and planning departments will report to her ; she was already in charge of account management , media and new business .
latinworks is one of the biggest u . s . hispanic agencies , and has been both ad age ' s multicultural agency of the year and on the agency a - list .
“with clients like marshalls and domino’s , we handle everything from the communications strategy to creative to experiential to media planning and buying , ” says christy kranik , managing director at latinworks .
sergio alcocer , president and chief creative officer of latinworks , is leaving the austin - based u . s . hispanic agency at the end of this week after more than 16 years . mr . alcocer , one of the best - known hispanic creatives , has been a major force behind making latinworks one of the biggest and most creative agencies in the hispanic market .
for many years sergio embodied the spirit of what latinworks was all about ,
mr . ruelas said .
he is a very powerful personality that people drew a lot of inspiration from . sergio will always be unique , and he meant the world to latinworks and we ' re just happy he has the chance to do the things he wants to explore .
but through a combination of new - business wins and additional brands from existing clients such as pepsi , heinz and mars , latinworks managed to end 2012 with revenue up 7 % . how ? as marketers ponder whether it makes sense to have both a general - market and a hispanic agency , latinworks is at the forefront of making the case that multicultural is the new mainstream .
latinworks heads ( left to right ) : managing partner manny flores , president - cco sergio alcocer , and managing partner alejandro ruelas new york ( adage . com ) - - injecting a creative spirit even into its focus groups , latinworks pitted a dozen chevy and ford truck owners against one another to defend their passion for their chosen brands as the agency pitched for chevrolet ' s u . s . hispanic account last summer . the big , prestigious chevy win from general motors corp . helped latinworks , which reliably posts double - digit growth , to boost revenue by 37 % in 2010 .
the total market is a destination the ad industry is moving toward ,
said sergio alcocer , latinworks ' president and chief creative officer .
it will be a reality , not an alternative .
latinworks is a multicultural agency that is walking away from standards . located in austin , texas , the good , young and innovative vibe impregnates the workspace . its a healthy place to be working at .
for the chevy brand , which has underperformed severely in the hispanic market , latinworks encouraged gm to eschew stereotypical ads about hard - working latinos reaching for the american dream while playing soccer and raising a family .
new york latinworks , the austin , texas - based hispanic shop best known for its bud light super bowl spots , has acquired a 51 percent stake in cultura , a dallas - based hispanic ad agency .
as marketers struggle to understand just where consumers are going , latinworks released research last year on ambiculturalism , the idea that more hispanics are culturally ambidexterous , fully embracing both the latino and american aspects of their identities .
the u . s . had one hispanic - agency judge at cannes this year . sergio alcocer , latinworks ' president and chief creative officer , was on the film jury in his second stint as a cannes juror .
u . s . hispanic agency latinworks is promoting from within after the departure late last month of president - cco sergio alcocer , one of the best - known creative leaders in the u . s . hispanic market .
although latinworks ' partners knew former cco mr . alcocer was planning a move , it was a big surprise in the hispanic market when he left last month , and he still hasn ' t disclosed his next move .
that deep involvement in client business hints at the backgrounds of senior management at the agency . latinworks was founded by chief executive flores , former vp , marketing development at anheuser - busch , and cmo alejandro ruelas , former head of ethnic marketing at the brewing company . before joining latinworks , kranik worked in marketing at dell , where she was responsible for consumer and global brand strategies . filli is a former marketing communications director at reebok .
our objective has never been to do general - market work ,
said sergio alcocer , latinworks ' president and chief creative officer .
it ' s to take hispanic to the mainstream , which is different .
latinworks has a deep creative bench , led by third partner mr . alcocer , who completed an executive mba last year that included a team project with mckinsey europe to analyze what makes ads both award - winning and effective .
mr . garcia joined latinworks in 2008 when the agency acquired a smaller hispanic shop , cultura , where he spent six years and was the executive creative director . before that , he was a creative at another omnicom hispanic shop , dieste . his work includes the # sintraduccion (
no translation
) campaign for target earlier this year . other major latinworks ' clients are anheuser - busch , domino ' s , pepsico and the texas lottery .
rafa is going to be our sergio ,
said mr . ruelas , referring to sergio alcocer , one of the top creatives in the u . s . hispanic market and latinworks ' president and chief creative officer .
“latinworks is a rising star in the omnicom network of agencies , ” carmen baez , president , das latin america , said in a statement . “we look forward for big things to come out of this small shop . ”
the agency ' s hispanic work prompted heinz to have latinworks adapt its hispanic tv creative for its ketchup to run in the general market , and to develop the work for a huge digital billboard display in times square in october .
alcocer , who earlier worked at leo burnett and y & r , says while he has no interest in becoming a general market shop , he believes the future of latinworks depends upon its being as good as the bigger agencies .
blue - chip marketers , too , are beginning to tap latinworks to go beyond the scope of hispanic assignments , as work targeting the demographic has become far more sophisticated than merely creating spanish - language adaptations of general - market work .
not long ago , alejandro ruelas , latinworks ' managing partner and chief marketing officer , asked a senior marketer which of his agencies did the best hispanic work . the response was a bit of a shock : a general - market shop .
founded in 1998 by manny flores and alejandro ruelas , latinworks is based in austin , tx and is a cross - cultural agency that believes brands live by their connection with culture . and today , culture is evolving faster than ever before .
chris perry , vp - global marketing and strategy for chevrolet , said that latinworks helps
identify who our audience is within the hispanic community and how best to reach them , and make sure we bring our chevy values to that consumer .
when general motors ' chevrolet brand slashed its u . s . hispanic spending by more than two - thirds in early 2012 as part of a global consolidation of the chevy business , it looked like latinworks wouldn ' t have its usual stellar year .
the agency is also one of the few u . s . hispanic shops that consistently rack up hardware at the cannes lions international festival of creativity . in 2012 , latinworks brought home gold and bronze cannes lions for its long - running cine las americas campaign for austin ' s annual latin american film festival . adding new twists every year , latinworks unearths footage of real latin american leaders saying bizarre things , with the tagline
if this is what our reality is like , imagine our films .
mr . serrano was a creative director at latinworks for three years , and has also worked at wieden & kennedy and hispanic shop bromley communications . for the last year , he ' s been working on the sibling project at gsd & m . ;
last year was the first full year that latinworks handled general motors’ chevrolet nameplate , now the agency’s largest account and one that reunites it with joel ewanick , the automaker’s global chief marketing officer , who previously hired the shop when he was at hyundai .
those insights were a major draw for javier farfan , senior director of cultural branding at pepsico . last year , farfan led a hispanic agency review that led to latinworks’ hire on brands including sierra mist , sobe , aquafina and the soda manzanita sol .
latinworks is known for highly creative work that is meticulously planned and strategically grounded , helping marketers understand and win over increasingly diverse hispanic consumers while avoiding stereotypes . bicultural hispanics , for instance , are often portrayed as having a foot in each of two worlds that speak different languages . latinworks is delving into what the agency calls the
third space ,
where it believes bicultural hispanics , not fully understood by either latino or mainstream communities , actually reside . finding that attitudinal third space is a sweet spot for brands .
sergio , sergio , sergio ,
said russell weiner , exec vp and chief marketing officer of another latinworks client , domino ' s pizza .
i ' m such a sergio fan . he ' s a big part of the special sauce .
sibling is likely to function partly as a conflict shop for latinworks , which is already shut out of numerous categories thanks to a client list that includes anheuser - busch , domino ' s pizza , mars , lowes , pepsico , kimberly - clark and target .
similarly , longtime client mars asked latinworks for online ideas for skittles targeting teens . the agency ' s weird online spot , featuring a teen afflicted by a thick unibrow made out of skittles , is the most - viewed spot on the brand ' s youtube channel .
latinworks hired former cpb account planner todd widell to run the lab , and added four creatives . its first concept , for a livestrong cycling event , was an art project called pedal painting . lowe ' s and general motors are also considering ideas from the lab .
we ' re going to toast sergio ' s success with ice - cold budweiser and domino ' s pizza ,
said mr . flores , referring to two latinworks ' clients . the agency also works with lowe ' s , pepsico and the texas lottery .
recognized on a global scale as one of the most awarded multicultural agencies , latinworks is a three - time ad age “multicultural agency of the year” , a two - time recipient of ad age’s “agency a - list” award and one of forbes’ “most influential agencies . ”
ms . kranik , who was named one of ad age ' s women to watch last year , has been at latinworks since 2003 . before that , she spent five years on the client side at dell , where she was senior advertising manager , global brand strategy .
latinworks is one of the biggest and regarded as one of the most creative hispanic shops , and has been both ad age ' s multicultural agency of the year and named to ad age ' s a - list of the 10 best agencies in the u . s .
awesome - amazing and wonderful latinworks provides an incredible work environment that allows workers to excel at what they do best . management leads by example and is not afraid to get involved by sitting next to you as the work needs to get done during those late night efforts .
the agencies that will survive in our space are the ones that behave like general - market agencies ,
said mr . ruelas . he means be rigorously strategic , disciplined , insightful , creative and keenly aware of the precise target . and that pretty much describes latinworks .
still , latinworks knows it operates in a market increasingly under siege by general - market rivals entrenched in clients ' comfort zones . so last year it rolled out some weapons to help it better serve clients , including pepsico , mars , anheuser - busch inbev and general motors .
mr . flores said that after celebrating mr . alcocer tomorrow , and halloween on friday , the agency will start addressing organizational changes next week and
how we see the latinworks brand .
mr . alcocer ' s successor is expected to be promoted from within the agency .
austin , texas - based latinworks , started by managing partners manny flores and alejandro ruelas and partly owned by omnicom group , was the third - biggest hispanic agency by 2012 revenue , up from ninth place five years ago , according to ad age ' s hispanic fact pack .
for chevy , that meant racing to create a launch campaign for the cruze , a compact car that latinworks found surprisingly
uncompact
for its price range . while the general - market launch focused on favorable reviews of the new cruze , the latinworks team , which included a former professional racing car driver ,
let the car speak for itself ,
said sergio alcocer , president and chief creative officer . in launch spot
please don ' t go
the car demos its own alluring interior features to tempt its female owner back into the vehicle .
that opened up not only larger budgets on current pieces of business , but also adding new brands ,
ms . walker said . in addition to new starburst ads breaking in march 2010 , latinworks is readying work for twix , m & m ; ' s and snickers .
founded in 1998 , latinworks is a cultural branding agency at the forefront of america’s cultural transformation . a three - time ad age “multicultural agency of the year” and two - time recipient of ad age’s “agency a - list” award , latinworks has a legacy of multicultural excellence and world - class creativity . comprised of 150 diverse and forward - thinking people from all over the world , latinworks is based in austin , texas – at the forefront of technology , music , innovation and culture , which fuel our everyday inspiration . our mission is to lead brands as chief culture officer . with a relentless focus on consumers , we live to anticipate cultural shifts and help brands to successfully navigate the ever - changing transcultural landscape . our vision is to become the agency best known for its unparalleled understanding of the new consumer universe and its ability to act on that understanding .
omnicom - based latinworks won a film silver for
pool ,
a spot promoting a parental control bar for the internet offered free by nonprofit wraac . and cine las americas , an austin , texas festival for latin american films that garners creative awards for latinworks every year , picked up a radio bronze for
maduro .
the campaign features absurd but genuine speeches by latin american leaders , and always ends with the tagline
if this is our reality , imagine our films .
this year the presidential campaign by nicolas maduro after the death of venezuela ' s former leader hugo chavez was a gift to latinworks . the agency seized on one of the most absurd moments of mr . maduro ' s campaign , when he started making bird calls on the campaign trail and claiming he had been visited by mr . chavez in the form of a little bird .
as specialist media agencies reach deeper into the multicultural market at the expense of hispanic agencies , latinworks bucked the trend . the agency ' s media buying doubled to $ 100 million last year , and its media department , which started as a party of one in 2005 , reached 36 staffers .
latinworks was the big winner among u . s . hispanic agencies at last week ' s cannes lions international festival of creativity , picking up two lions for new twists in long - running campaigns for austin ' s latin film festival cine las americas and anti - child obesity effort active life .
a celebrated creative executive who has worked in three continents , serge has over 20 years of industry experience . born in uruguay , and raised in australia , he began his career at one of the most creative agencies in the world : clemenger bbdo in melbourne , where he won his first awards . his career would take him to the u . s . , south america , back to australia and eventually to austin , tx , where he leads a talented and accomplished creative team at latinworks . prior to joining latinworks , serge worked at another legendary agency , tbwa - new york .
so , in a project that took two years to prepare , the major league baseball association worked with austin - based latinworks to launch “ponle acento” ( “put an accent on it” ) , which rights a historical wrong—by putting accent marks back into names whose accents were dropped in the immigration process .
financially healthy after years of double - digit revenue growth , latinworks has invested in proprietary research about hispanic consumer archetypes , which led to a planning tool called brandsteer . the shop also developed an ideas lab to demonstrate that it can craft strategies that go beyond the agency ' s scope of work .
since it was founded 13 years ago , latinworks , adweek ’s hispanic agency of the year , has achieved a reputation for both its creativity and its strategic insights , drawing marketers such as general motors , anheuser - busch , kimberly - clark , domino’s , lowe’s , wrigley , mars and post foods .
per the agreement , cultura will integrate its business operations , employees and client roster into latinworks , adding clients such as kimberly - clark , lowe’s home improvement , mars and the texas lottery to a list that includes anheuser - busch , batanga , domino’s pizza , espn deportes and hyundai , flores said .
started by former anheuser - busch execs manny flores and alejandro ruelas in 1998 and now minority owned by omnicom group , latinworks broke into the ranks of the top 10 hispanic agencies by revenue in 2008 , and has climbed steadily , reaching no . 5 in ad age ' s hispanic fact pack ranking last year .
aio didn ' t set out to hire a hispanic agency for its entire account , although multicultural consumers are more likely to opt for pre - paid plans . cindy matthews , director - advertising and brand at aio wireless , said latinworks stood out for its fearlessness , a crucial quality in building a new brand .
and at a time when clients are often consolidating hispanic media buying with their general - market media agencies , latinworks almost doubled the size of the media budgets it handles , and staffed up from 11 to 17 people in the media department in 2012 . in total it reached 142 employees . revenue was up 7 % .
new york ( adage . com ) - - in latinworks ' starburst commercial , a llama faces a young man as they both chew contentedly , then with a hand and a hoof feed each other more starburst candies , selling the message of an intensely juicy treat that people - - and their llamas - - love to share .
i would highly recommend working at latinworks , in particular , if someone is interested in a multicultural agency . what made my internship so great was the opportunity to work on actual client work . during a typical week , my partner and i would usually have two to three projects going on simultaneously which was both challenging and rewarding .
latinworks ' eight account wins in 2013 included target , which moved from using hispanic shops on a project basis to a new diversity platform across all its product groups ; humana vitality , which brought it into a hot new category of health care ; and a project with rock the vote to register 100 , 000 young latinos to vote .
with many years of brand development and segment marketing expertise , manny oversees agency operations , strategic direction , public relations initiatives and client relations . prior to latinworks , manny was client side at anheuser - busch where he served as vp of marketing development , launching important extensions of the company’s key franchise brands and spearheading breakthrough multicultural marketing programs .
last year , latinworks added capital one , heinz , pepsico , t . j . maxx and fox hispanic media , helping year - over - year revenue grow by 11 percent to an estimated $ 23 million . it was a year in which the agency also invested in a significant proprietary research project aimed at crunching the latest census data .
latinworks’ creative initiatives group “gives us the opportunity to come up with ideas that are more than what we are typically asked to do , ” widell says . “we can explore digital , social , tactical , experiential , guerrilla . it’s changing the way others perceive us and the way our people think about the way we approach our work . ”
latinworks for good , our employee led volunteer initiative , was born out of a passion for giving back . we’ve had the privilege of working with organizations such as the texas school for the deaf , special olympics , red cross , casa marianella , community first ! village , and capital area food bank of texas , to name a few .
latinworks generated impressive revenue growth of 32 % in 2013 . but the real story is how those billings broke down : 59 % u . s . hispanic work and 41 % total market , meaning work that addresses the general market and multicultural consumers . just a year earlier , the split was 82 % hispanic work and 18 % total market .
the difference is everything reports into her now , including gabriel ,
said manny flores , co - founder and ceo of latinworks , in which omnicom group has a large minority stake .
she ' s a very collaborative , knowledgeable leader . she won ' t have influence over the creative product ; gabriel will make those decisions .
ruelas says that while at a - b , he felt that many of the agencies he worked with weren’t meeting the brewer’s needs . as a result , he ended up doing a lot of the work on strategy and creative idea generation himself . he decided to leave the client side to set up latinworks with flores and , later , alcocer .
based in austin , the hippest of cities in the heavily hispanic state of texas , latinworks has a knack for convincing clients that in an increasingly multicultural world , the agency is the best choice to handle the total market . both the texas lottery and stripes , a small regional convenience store chain , gave the agency their entire ad accounts last year .
in 2012 , latinworks did the first hispanic - targeted campaign for heinz ketchup , driving sales and winning 45 , 000 fans for a
somos heinz
facebook page . efforts ranged from a custom hot - dog - and - ketchup - sampling truck to geo - targeted ads reminding hispanic moms within three miles of a key retailer to buy heinz .
despite an unpromising start due to chevy ' s budget cuts , latinworks was deeply involved in work for the brand ' s silverado truck , whose hispanic sales outpaced sales to non - hispanic truck buyers . for most of 2012 , silverado sales to hispanics grew by 12 % while the non - hispanic market was up by just 0 . 4 % .
the agency is known for work that transcends ethnic stereotypes , and that has great crossover appeal . latinworks’ recent bud light spots featuring cuban - american hip - hop artist pitbull ran on both english - and spanish - language broadcast networks in the u . s . its commercial featuring comic carlos mencia teaching a group of immigrants how to order a bud light in american slang was among the most popular from the 2007 super bowl and won latinworks a bronze lion at cannes the same year . meanwhile , the agency’s spot for starburst in which a young man and a llama feed each other candy became one of the most watched commercials of 2009 , according to nielsen , and earned the shop a silver lion at cannes .
latinworks is a cultural branding agency at the forefront of america ' s cultural transformation . with a relentless focus on consumers , they live to anticipate cultural shifts and help brands to successfully navigate the ever - changing transcultural landscape . their vision is to become the agency best known for their unparalleled understanding of the new consumer universe and ability to act on that understanding .
after being with the company for 6 months of so you ' ll learn how solid and predictable everything is : clients will leave , the best people will jump ship , you will follow orders and take abuse , tacos and layoffs . i arrived at latinworks in the end of 2014 , on my first day 15 people were laid off . they said it was over . layoffs continued for all of 2015 and 2016 , almost every 3 months until my boss called me on december 23 during the holiday break to wish me a merry xmas and let me go . another 10 people received this
special
xmas gift from latinworks last year . they are now down to less than 50 people and in deep trouble so beware !
last year , latinworks also hired todd widell , a veteran of general market agencies such as tbwachiatday , crispin porter + bogusky and team one , to head its new creative initiatives unit . the group is not tied to a particular client budget , thus allowing the agency to explore ideas beyond a marketer’s scope of work , which can often skew toward more traditional media .
one of the agency ' s hallmarks is work that is highly creative and effective in the hispanic market , but eschews stereotypes and transcends ethnicity . despite the disastrous 2009 economy , latinworks grew revenue by 13 % and came up with strategic solutions to drive business for its clients ' brands , earning the accolade of ad age ' s multicultural agency of the year . while other shops did layoffs , latinworks ' staff grew by 15 % to 106 people . in a slow year for new business , the agency won pitches for bacardi and burger king , now its biggest client , and took home the u . s . hispanic market ' s only trophy from the cannes lions international advertising festival . unsurprisingly , the prize went to the llama .
latinworks was founded in 1998 in austin , texas , by two anheuser - busch marketing veterans , manny flores , mr . ruelas and mr . alcocer . relationships are crucial - - a - b is a big client and the agency was already on chevy ' s radar thanks to memorable hispanic work for hyundai when gm ' s global cmo joel ewanick headed marketing there .
latinworks is one of the best in the industry for total market advertising , but unless the company takes themselves on as their most important client , i ' m not sure how long their success will last . people are unhappy at this company . they ' re running out the door , and those who are not running are getting laid off . morale is down the drain and management
to that end , latinworks is plucking talent from outside the u . s . hispanic market , stealing eric lefton , a draftfcb vp - strategic planning director , in december . this month , christian filli , a swiss - cuban former reebok exec who grew up in brazil and is managing director of wpp ' s landor associates in mexico city , joins the agency as head of planning .
“the census truly validated the importance of the hispanic consumers and how they are woven into the fabric across this country , ” says latinworks ceo manny flores . “for a marketer introducing a product or advertising in california , florida and texas , they absolutely need a hispanic component . beyond that , instead of being an ethnic segment , it’s becoming part of a larger multicultural transformation of america . ”
winning another fast food account , burger king , in early 2009 was a
blessing
because it got a tough year off to a good start , and let the agency hire people , mr . alcocer said . burger king ' s hispanic traffic was falling , and latinworks quickly realized the company promoted whoppers to the general market as
flame - broiled ,
but not to the hispanic market , where flame broiling , or
a la parrilla
is exactly how latinos like food prepared . latinworks did ads portraying a strange world where people did their cookouts in huge outdoor frying pans . in los angeles , burger king ' s biggest hispanic market , traffic had dipped by 10 % but went back up to previous levels after the flame - broiling campaign targeting spanish - dominant hispanics .
a major latinworks initiative in 2011 involved introducing the new chevy cruze compact to the hispanic market . while some 20 percent of all cars sold to hispanics are compacts , gm’s earlier entry in the category , the cobalt , didn’t manage to connect with hispanic consumers , earning less than 3 percent of market share even as its rivals , the toyota corolla and honda civic , achieved more than 20 percent apiece .
“baseball is america’s pastime and has a rich history steeped in tradition , ” latinworks executive creative director gabriel garcía tells adfreak . “it’s had tremendous influence on american culture , and hispanic players form an important part of that story . yet when we looked at its fan base , they were underrepresented , despite their contributions … and the fact that nearly one - third of mlb players are of hispanic descent . ”
jaime brings 20 + years of experience working on global brands in the u . s . and latin america . a native of miami , jaime understands the exponential cultural transformation of our country in part because he’s lived it first - hand . combined with a well - rounded perspective having held both content development and account leadership positions in his past roles , today he leads latinworks’ dynamic and successful total market accounts .
emotions have been running high in the hispanic market over clients moving hispanic business from specialist agencies to general - market shops . after burger king dismissed its ethnic agencies , there was talk of jesse jackson and his rainbow coalition marching on burger king ' s headquarters in protest . instead of fanning the flames , latinworks took the high road , in public comments on the issue and a private call to its former client .
in a radio spot from last year created by austin , texas - based agency latinworks , a woman with a crisp english accent recalls that british prime minister david cameron warned in a speech that european men were suffering from baldness as a result of eating chicken . as poultry contains a heavy dose of female hormones , consuming it could easily make englishmen gay , as they experience the “degradation of their manly being . ”
the austin , texas - based shop , in which omnicom group has a minority stake , is consistently ranked one of the best hispanic agencies in the u . s . this is the third consecutive time that ad age has named latinworks either multicultural agency of the year or to the annual a - list , and it was the only hispanic shop to be a cannes lions winner in 2011 , picking up two trophies .
in his second stint as senior leader at latinworks , luis oversees and manages promotions and experiential activities for all our clients . he brings 15 + years of results driven practices , integrating non - traditional marketing approaches , digital & media cross relations and retail programs . his background includes time on the client - side , where he served for several years as director of marketing at compass learning , an online educational software company .
beer vets latinworks was started by two anheuser - busch marketing veterans , manny flores , a fourth - generation texan who was anheuser - busch ' s vp - marketing development , and mexican - born alejandro ruelas , a - b ' s director - ethnic marketing . they ended up creating the model for their own hispanic shop when their boss , august busch , sent them to explain a - b ' s success with hispanics to other marketers who had asked about it . they opened latinworks in 1998 with sergio alcocer , now the agency ' s president and chief creative officer . ( in 2006 , they sold a 49 % stake to omnicom group . ) with their background , miller was soon the biggest client , accounting for almost half of revenues . the shop resigned the business amid leadership changes and a sense that the client was talking down to hispanics .
the u . s . hispanic market poses particular challenges . for instance , domino ' s pizza did an aggressive sales - boosting campaign last year based on a general - market perception that the pizza sucked and that a new recipe was much better . the problem : hispanic consumers liked the original taste . so latinworks steered domino ' s toward positioning the brand as an integral part of the community - - with a great taste at the same price .
the trust level [ with latinworks ] is incredibly high ,
said j . patrick doyle , domino ' s president - ceo .
when they say we have to go in a different direction , our ears are wide open . we saw the same level of lift in our hispanic business and are still communicating our core message , but we needed to take a different approach . they started shifting us to focus on being part of the neighborhood .
for longtime client anheuser - busch inbev ' s bud light , latinworks parlayed the statistic that 70 % of hispanic homes have outdoor grills compared with 50 % for non - hispanics , into an emotional and aromatic link between the beer brand and carne asada , or barbecued meat . the integrated campaign includes the slogan
smells like bud light
evoked by the tantalizing aroma of a barbecue , and a celebrity chef , aaron sanchez , dubbed the
carne asada master
in the spot .
he ' s been behind creative that sweeps award shows , like the long - running cine las americas campaign for a latin american film festival , and brand - building work for major marketers , and has been a judge twice at the cannes lions international festival of creativity . under his creative leadership , latinworks has been named to ad age ' s agency a - list of the best u . s . agencies and has been ad age ' s multicultural agency of the year more than once .
agency philosophy : latinworks was created with the belief that advertising - - at its very core - - must demonstrate respect for the consumer , and this respect must be expressed through great ideas that sell product without having to rely on stereotypes . all of our team members share the understanding that great work is the result of close collaboration with the client and with the assigned general market agencies . why ? because the hispanic market doesn’t live in a bubble , therefore achieving strategic synergy with a brand’s universal positioning is essential to communications success . mission statement : always strive to be a shop dedicated to creating irreverent , provocative work that demonstrates respect for the intellectual capacity of our target . a shop that does not rely on stereotypes , nor obscure symbolisms . a shop that delivers simple creativity , direct and to the point . latinworks must remain an agency fueled by a burning desire to produce strategic and insightful creative that sells . a place where the only thing that matters is the work . competitive advantages : latinworks has key differences that set us apart from other agencies in our industry : we are focused on gaining a deep understanding of the hispanic consumer . strategic discipline - - designed to uncover key insights that inspire our creatives - - has resulted in outstanding work . we have what we believe is the best creative team in our industry , and they are supported by a management group with proven , successful client - side experience . this combination of agency and client knowledge is what sets us apart .
as chief culture officer & partner , christy is a key member of the leadership team at the agency . she focuses primarily internally in building and fostering a unique culture in todays competitive ad agency environment . she is responsible for building a team and family atmosphere within the company and leading many of the initiatives for our team members . christy has been with latinworks for 13 years and has a true passion for developing and retaining women in the industry . christy was named one of the 2014 ad age “women to watch . ”
latinworks is one of the best in the industry for total market advertising , but unless the company takes themselves on as their most important client , i ' m not sure how long their success will last . people are unhappy at this company . they ' re running out the door , and those who are not running are getting laid off . morale is down the drain and management has yet to address any of the obvious culture issues in the room . you don ' t get promoted unless you ' re the pet . perks do not equal good culture .
“latinworks never misses on creative ; they are relentless in coming up with great ideas , ” says russell weiner , chief marketing officer at domino’s . “but unlike some agencies , they’re not just building their books and cashing your checks . you really feel like they’re in the business with you . it’s not just the account people . [ chief creative officer ] sergio [ alcocer ] is one of the best creative directors at any agency . he keenly gets the creative process , but he could be an account guy because he so well understands our other business prerogatives . ”
alejandro oversees the agency’s business development and marketing efforts . he also works closely with the agency’s leadership on key client initiatives . prior to latinworks , alejandro had an 18 - year career in the beverage industry . at anheuser - busch he led multicultural marketing for the u . s . and puerto rico , advised on international marketing operations - including serving on the board of grupo modelo - and established soccer as a premier marketing vehicle , pioneering the use of the mexican national soccer team , and helping a - b to secure the global sponsorship rights to fifa’s world cup .
this year latinworks also picked up a bronze lion in the press competition for a print campaign for active life encouraging kids to enjoy the active outdoor activities they often abandon to spend hours online , contributing to child obesity . each ad shows two children as paper cutouts from a facebook profile , with each child ' s photo , name and a few words like
4 mutual friends . add as friend .
in each ad , the two kids meet outdoors to fly a kite or play on a slide or swing . the copy line is
meet online , play outside .
this agency adheres to a people first mindset that is very unique . you can tell the leadership team truly cares about employee morale and works hard to create a welcoming environment . the ceo is regularly on the floor , circulating , and checking in to see how everyone is doing . employee ' s receive appreciation in various ways - from snack carts on fridays , unexpected holiday gift cards , and random lunches / happy hours . latinworks is a very successful agency and is an example of what can happen when you put people first . i ' m happy to be a part of this team .
though created by mars ' u . s . hispanic agency , the spot crossed over from the hispanic market to general - market tv and into the popular culture in 2009 , as people posted their own spoofs on youtube and tweeted
i wanna eat starburst with a llama .
mattel ' s american girls doll line gave one of its dolls , chrissa , a white baby llama pet named starburst . and after a double - digit decline in hispanic sales , down 27 . 7 % in 2008 , starburst ' s hispanic sales shot up 14 . 8 % within three months of latinworks ' campaign launching .
chloe began her career working at gsd & m in austin , tx as a media buyer on walmart , mastercard , texas lottery and several others accounts . she was also a media planner at temerlin - mcclain in dallas , tx , and served as the media director at the lee tilford agency in austin where she handled all media responsibilities for the agency . in 1999 , she returned to gsd & m as a senior buyer and spent almost ten years negotiating buys for at & t , bmw , mastercard , dreamworks and several other accounts . in 2008 chloe joined latinworks and helped launch the new media department for the agency .
it is easy to throw out a list of things that are not great at any agency , and latinworks has its share . so did the agency i came from , but the difference i see is that there appears to be an effort by senior management and owners to make some changes and i believe change will happen . maybe its slower than i would like , but change none the less . i hope that management takes the time to listen to all of us while charting our course , that is where the difference can become positive . make us part of the adjustment . not listening leads to a repeat of history , not creating it .
the agency’s work on cruze underscores its determination to avoid cultural clichés . the creative features images of young american latinos—a target identified by latinworks as “the unstoppables , ” those consumers who are unwilling to compromise on the things that matter most to them and who want a car that will keep them moving forward , and who happen to be hispanic . one spot features a group of young men getting into a cruze , a great dane looking all forlorn as he gets left behind and the garage door slowly closes . the final shot shows the dog happily ensconced in the backseat , as the voiceover points out that the cruze sports more interior space than either the civic or the corolla .
if i knew then what i knew now . . . i ' d step up my golf game
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laurel wentz is ad age ' s global and multicultural editor , responsible for international and u . s . hispanic coverage . she is based in new york . she previously covered europe from ad age ' s london bureau , and before that was latin america editor , based in sao paulo . the best way to reach laurel is by email at lwentz @ adage . com .
clients see the agency as constantly thinking about their business and not being limited by the scope of their assignment ,
mr . ruelas said .
the fact that we ' re bringing them ideas on a consistent basis , whether they buy them or not , elevates our standing .
instead , it identified the target consumer for the compact chevy cruze as
unstoppables
: young people who demand a car that keeps them moving forward in life . in one spot , the cruze ' s superior gas mileage is called the
keep driving until you ' re ready
feature as a bride , one of her bridesmaids at the wheel , circles the church .
in the first three quarters of 2011 , chevy ' s vehicle registrations to hispanics were 33 % higher than a year earlier . the cruze captured 8 . 7 % of hispanic purchases of compacts , a segment that accounts for 20 % of all cars bought by hispanics .