Tech entrepreneur invests £1m into Outsourcery

Jones’s investment represents a 10.52 per cent of existing issued share capital of the cloud provider, which floated on AIM in 2013 and operates in an adjacent market to Jones’s Manchester-based cloud infrastructure firm UKFast.

Jones said: “This has the hallmarks of a great investment. I’ve known Piers [Linney, Outsourcery Co-CEO] for more than 25 years and I am looking forward to what the future holds.”

Jones has an impressive track record in the hosting industry, growing UKFast organically from a bedroom business in 1999 to a 250-strong team, £36 million turnover, c.£15m EBITDA firm.

Of the investment, Outsourcery Plc Co-CEO, Piers Linney, said: “Lawrence's investment in Outsourcery is a positive step for both him and our business. Manchester is growing in significance as a hub for innovative and technologically driven companies like ours and this is a great vote of confidence in the progress that we have made. A combination of this investment and added industry experience will take us one step further on our growth plans."

Although the two cloud firms operate in similar markets, there is little crossover between the two. Jones added: “I have a great respect for where Piers and Simon [Newton, Outsourcery Co-CEO] have taken Outsourcery so far and I look forward to contributing to future success with my experience as a technology entrepreneur.”

The investment announcement comes as Outsourcery posted interim results showing a group revenue increase of 21 per cent to £4.1m.