Becoming A Global Webhost: The Story Of UK2
UK2 began as a one-room domain name business, and has grown into a global web hosting superpower. But how did we make it here?
It’s not often you hear the backstory of many businesses, but it’s important to acknowledge your successes and share your story with your customers. After all, it’s your customers – old and new – who have helped define your business and shape its journey. For us here at UK2 it’s been a journey spanning almost two decades, growing in accordance with the internet and watching it change our world forever.
Launching in October 1998, UK2.net had a humble beginning, set up by a small group of founders as a low-cost provider of domain names. While domain names are still very much a lynchpin of our business, we have expanded to offer a range of online services. From tools to boost your SEO to new generic top level domains (gTLDs), we aim to equip you with anything and everything you need to succeed in online business, something that was always our primary goal.
During its first couple of years in business UK2 grew out of its one-room “office” – one founder’s living room – and became the UK’s largest web hosting company. By 2000 we had around 435,000 customers. The journey of course continued throughout the ‘90s, at which point our founder took a back seat. It was under new management that UK2 began its global expansion, acquiring our range of worldwide brands. Under the umbrella company of UK2Group, we now exist as one of no fewer than seven hosting brands, providing the utmost in hosting infrastructure to all four corners of the globe.
Fast forward to today, and UK2 are providers of professional website hosting for businesses large and small. Based in the well-established tech-hub of Shoreditch in London – minutes away from Silicon Roundabout – we are the UK’s local webhost. While our roots remain, we have expanded to offer everything from a .co.uk domain name to a fully-managed dedicated server environment; every UK2 experience is tailored to our customers.
We’ve watched the internet evolve from a small community of hardcore techies to the global phenomenon that is so interwoven into our lives. We’ve seen countless new innovative technologies, some of which have shaped the way we do business. Who would’ve thought when we were setting up back in 1998 that we’d be communicating with our customers via 140-character “Tweets” on a microblogging platform? Who knew that ecommerce would come to rule the internet, a place created to share information?
While the tech industry forces us all to look toward the future – and to hurtle there at a startling pace – it’s important as a business to look back and appreciate how far you’ve come on your own journey. Be it a journey of digital transformation – growing your brick and mortar business into an online selling machine – or one which was born online much like ours, each and every business story is important. Your story is what shapes your business, and should be a central part of your brand DNA.
How has your business changed because of the internet? Did the internet give you your start? Let us know your story in the comments or over on Twitter (we’re getting good at it!) @UK2.