PGExpress,
a wholly owned subsidiary of telecoms carrier
Pacific Gateway Exchange,
has announced its acquisition of UK Internet service provider
Onyx Internet.
Based on Teesside, Onyx Internet supplies Internet connectivity
and related services to around three thousand small to medium
sized businesses and residential customers in England and
Scotland. Its turnover is currently in excess of £1 million
($1.6 million) per year.
“The acquisition of Onyx Internet Ltd. is an instrumental step
in the development of a European focused IP services group
within the PGExpress organisation,” said Chris A. Icide,
CTO of PGExpress.
“With Onyx’s strong local brand and its membership in the
London Internet Exchange (LINX) with over fifty Internet
peering relationships, this acquisition enables PGExpress
to roll out European IP services with a core team of highly
trained European Internet professionals,” he added.
As a result of the deal, Onyx Internet will trade
independently from its e-commerce sister company
Tradezone International. However, the ISP will continue
to operate under its existing name.
“Onyx has the systems and team in place to provide Pacific
Gateway with a perfect platform into the rest of Europe,”
said Onyx general manager Alastair Waite.
“This is just phase one of the expansion plan and should
boost our current workforce from 30 to around 50. After this,
phase two will include a network operations centre based here
in Middlesbrough which should generate 60 jobs.”
Alastair Waite went on to say that the company also has
plans for a customer service centre to cover the whole of Europe,
creating a further 300 jobs on Teesside.