Foreign invasion chases UK’s online consumers

It has been known for a while that search engines reward businesses that host within the country they are trading by ranking them more highly. But now, the UK is beginning to see the effects of this with foreign companies flooding into our data centres to win a share of the market, says Lawrence Jones, managing director of business hosting provider UKFast.

UKFast’s recent six month figures show that over 33 per cent of the hosts new enterprise level clients are overseas businesses. The US, Australia and Continental Europe take the lead and as enterprise clients they are taking the move very seriously.

“It is great for hosting companies like us to take on huge solutions from countries like the US and Germany but it presents a stark reality. The global marketplace allows anyone to do business with UK consumers. For the benefit of the UK economy, the home grown talent needs to be aware of the competition and be prepared to challenge it.”

According to Laura Blizard, marketing manager at internet marketing consultancy Harper James, Web 2.0 has brought user recommendation to the forefront for UK consumers and revitalised their trust in online traders. “We have never been more willing to spend online and companies at home and abroad are aware of this new climate.”

UKFast’s analysis also gives some indication of the fastest growing sectors online. While the travel sector continues to consolidate a healthy share of the revenue, gaming sites, financial businesses and e-learning will all have increased their presence before the end of the year. Unsurprisingly, one of the main catalysts to growth is the emergence of more user generated content and Web 2.0 technologies within company websites.

About UKFast - www.ukfast.net
UKFast is the ISPA UK’s Best Business Host 2007, 2006 and 2005 as well as Future Publishing’s Best Business ISP 2004. The hosting specialist has a regular place in UK Top Host’s list of top 5 ISP’s and plays an instrumental part in Manchester’s future as a digital city.

As one of the UK’s fastest bandwidth providers, UKFast counts amongst its clients some of the UK’s biggest names including Experian, Dollond and Aitchison and Sainsbury’s. UKFast also sponsors the Sale Sharks Premiership Rugby Club and the Airwaves-Ducati British Superbikes Team.