computer science

UKFast

UKFast is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand UKFast rather than just read about it. In short: UKFast.Net Limited (trading as UKFast) was a business-to-business internet hosting company based in Manchester, England. It was principally known for managed hosting, cloud services, and co-location.

Key takeaways

UKFast belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect UKFast to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of UKFast from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

UKFast.Net Limited (trading as UKFast) was a business-to-business internet hosting company based in Manchester, England. It was principally known for managed hosting, cloud services, and co-location. The business owned and operates its data centre complex in Trafford Park. In 2019, the company employed more than 365 people and in 2018 achieved revenues of £53.9 million. It provided services to more than 5,000 clients including the NHS, the Ministry of Defence and the Cabinet Office. Since June 2022, UKFast.Net Limited and ANS Group Limited, which are both controlled by private equity group Inflexion, merged and have become ANS.

Company history UKFast was founded in September 1999 by Welsh businessman Lawrence Jones and his wife Gail Jones. In 2007, the company moved its head office to the 28th floor of City Tower in Manchester. It acquired further space on the 16th floor, before moving in 2013 to a campus at 1 Archway in the Birley Fields area of Hulme, Manchester. In 2013, the firm launched eCloud, a range of cloud hosting services whose hardware infrastructure reportedly cost £12 million to build. In that year, the business turned over £23.4 million. For the year ending 31 December 2014, UKFast reported a 24 per cent turnover increase from £23.4 million to £28.9 million. Between 2011 and 2015, UKFast invested more than £25 million into capital expenditure projects including the development of four data centres and the flagship UKFast Campus. In 2013, UKFast opened an office in Glasgow and in 2015 opened a further office in London. In 2014, founder Lawrence Jones rejected a reported £200 million takeover bid amidst a trend of web hosting consolidation, citing that the business was still growing. In 2016, UKFast doubled the size of its headquarters by securing a further 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m2) of space at 3 Archway, Birley Fields, adjacent to its existing building. In 2018, a 30% stake of UKFast was sold to private equity firm Inflexion for around £120 million On 31 October 2019, CRN reported "Lawrence Jones quits UKFast following sexual misconduct allegations – Financial Times article accused Jones of sexual assault and harassment last week". Jones' wife and current UKFast managing director Gail Jones took over his responsibilities, according to the article. On 6 May 2020, the Joneses exited the business along with Secarma through a sale to existing private equity investor Inflexion. On 1 December 2023, Lawrence Jones was sentenced to a total of 15 years in prison for two rapes and a sexual assault after a trial at Manchester Crown Court. He was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Awards and accreditations Between 2005 and 2009, UKFast won six Internet Service Providers Association awards and was named "Best Hosting Provider" for four years running. 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. 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" award. 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 7th and 8th respectively in 2019, 9th and 25th respectively in 2018, and 5th in both lists in 2017. They placed 28th and 12th respectively in 2014, 25th and 5th respectively in 2013, and 45th and 7th respectively in 2012.

References

External links UKFast

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with UKFast

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what UKFast claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to UKFast before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about UKFast ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of UKFast

In research: UKFast appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses UKFast in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: UKFast is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1999 establishments in England, Blog hosting services, Cloud computing providers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for UKFast outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study UKFast in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what UKFast means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain UKFast out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is UKFast in simple terms?

UKFast.Net Limited (trading as UKFast) was a business-to-business internet hosting company based in Manchester, England. It was principally known for managed hosting, cloud services, and co-location.

Why does UKFast matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study UKFast?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on UKFast.