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The purchase is a strategic move by Onyx as DRS’s services can meet the contingency needs of those firms that operate within highly regulated markets, such as professional and financial services, which is a key focus for Onyx and follows last month’s buy out of Moffat Communications, a leading City hedge fund supplier.

The latest acquisition confirms Onyx’s expansion of its business continuity services and gives the firm a national foothold within an increasingly important market. Disaster recovery is especially significant to regulated markets as businesses seek to comply with the growing number of regulations put upon them from authoritative bodies such as the FSA and LawSoc. As this regulation becomes more stringent and rigorous, especially in the aftermath of the recession, it’s clear that businesses across the UK will have to ensure they are adequately protected against the unexpected and can remain fully operational in times of crises.

“Latest research shows that 90 per cent of businesses that lose data from a disaster are forced to shut down within two years of the disruption”, said Neil Stephenson, CEO, Onyx Group.

“It’s clear therefore that robust disaster recovery services and business continuity planning is vital in ensuring a business stays operational, which is why this is such an important purchase for us. It shows that we’re fully focused on up scaling the business, with a particular focus on regulated markets.”

Acquiring DRS Ltd means Onyx can now provide access to workplace, data and voice facilities if and when businesses face a disruption to their operation. DRS’s business model differentiates from the business continuity services provided by competitors because it offers a flexibility and choice in its service that is directly relevant to smaller companies, and it can provide an alternative workplace as and when a business requires.

Workplace recovery is normally a service associated with large, blue chip organisations due to the high costs involved. DRS however is uniquely placed to offer smaller firms a similar service and make disaster recovery accessible to those that do not have the same budget larger companies have at their disposal.

With over 70 conveniently located and designated office suites available specifically for those businesses who have less than 50 employees to recover, DRS is tailored specially to the needs of SMEs as it means small firms can get quick access to disaster recovery services as and when they need to.

The acquisition enhances Onyx’s existing disaster recovery services enabling the company to provide primary, secondary and tertiary disaster recovery locations and provide an effective, robust disaster recovery plan to UK SMEs. 27 of the acquired office suites are located in London, with the remaining in locations across the UK including Scotland, the Midlands and the North. The company will take the Onyx name under Onyx Business Continuity Solutions and will be headed up by James Carver, previously Director at DRS, who has over 20 years experience in disaster recovery and business development.
 
Over the past 12 months, Onyx Group has grown significantly as it transforms from a regional IT service provider into a national company, with particular strategic focus on regulated markets such as the financial services sector. This has cumulated in the company being named as one of Britain’s fastest growing technology companies of 2009 in the recent Sunday Times Tech Track 100, after seizing opportunities thrown up by the downturn.

“This latest acquisition is another key piece in Onyx’s national strategy jigsaw, as we aim to create a UK wide IT footprint, providing a breadth of IT services to key target markets,” added Stephenson, “I believe we have the agility, hunger and skill set to really grow this business and the next 24 months are going to be both challenging but exciting as we look to capitalise on a gap in the market that our competitors are not able to take advantage of.”

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