AN internet hosting provider which opened its own £1.2 million data centre in York is finishing its financial year with a record results and its highest ever head count.

Bytemark Hosting, which is entering the Technology Business of the Year award, is based in Nether Poppleton, and expanded over the last year through acquisitions, technical developments, and a recruitment drive.

The business was founded in 2002 by school friends Peter Taphouse and Matthew Bloch, and acquired its own data centre in York in 2013, which became a HQ for the expanding company, and was converted to host new customers within 5 months.

By the end of 2014, most of Bytemark's servers had been moved from Manchester to Bytemark's "YO26" data centre, saving the company money which it has since re-invested in staff.

Bytemark has increased every year in turnover, profitability and head count, but kept an efficient operation through automation and clever application of in-house technology.

It is a firm led by two engineers, heading into a new period of growth through its "BigV" cloud platform.

Director Matthew Bloch said: "We have built our own technology that puts our engineers' expertise toe-to-toe with industry giants Amazon and Google, gaining new users every single day who value a UK firm with a reputation for excellent technical support."