Your.Cloud adds to European arrivals in the UK

One of the minor trends that bubbled away over the course of the past year was the move by more European firms to gain a presence in the UK.

The majority of examples have seen players in Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Czech Republic set their sights on market growth in the UK, often using acquisition as the means of widening their European presence.

Recent cases include the move by Dutch player Nextview Consulting to gain a UK presence with a deal for Sabio’s Salesforce practice, and Danish outfit Conscia extending its ability to service customers in Ireland and the UK by picking up PlanNet21 Group.

One of the most active is Norwegian player Advania, which picked up CCS Media in a move designed to extend its market coverage and deepen its Microsoft support skills back in October. That deal followed moves it had already made by adding Content+Cloud and Servium.

Other references include the move by Czech cloud and managed hosting specialist VSHosting to target UK growth through an organic expansion through a base in Portsmouth.

The latest move that adds to the trend has been made by by Dutch player Your.Cloud, which will gain a foothold in the UK through a move for HDUK.

Your.Cloud has the ambition of becoming a leading MSP across Europe, and HDUK will give it access to an additional user base of 7,500 users that rely on the company to provide hosted desktop solutions, primarily to the accountancy sector.

John Reynders, CEO at Your.Cloud, said it recognised HDUK’s vertical focus and solid reputation was its strength: “HDUK is one of those examples where years of focus pays off to become a leader in a specific segment. Their position in the accountancy sector in the UK is very impressive and can only come from building the trust and knowledge needed to build services that are aligned with the needs of the sector.”

Matthew Healey, CEO at HDUK, said the tie-up would provide the firm with more muscle: “While still providing our customers with the premium and personal service they have come to expect, we will benefit from being part of a larger group of decentralised European IT companies. This means faster adoption of technological advances and the sharing of best practices will help our customers to concentrate on what they do best and leave the IT to HDUK.”

The deal is also the route into the UK for Your.Cloud. Its general manager, Leon van Meel, said this was a significant move by the business.

“With HDUK being our first expansion in the UK these are very exciting times for Your.Cloud,” he said. “The UK is a market we have been following closely and are sure to be able to both add a lot of value and definitely gain new insights from, which we can apply to our other companies. With the help of the HDUK team, we have made a great first entrance to the UK and expect to further expand our position in both the UK and Europe from there.”