YORK web-hosting business Bytemark has moved its first clients into its new £1.2 million data centre as extra staff are taken on to support the firm’s growth.

Earlier this year Bytemark Hosting announced it had bought the freehold on a building at York Business Park for its first ever wholly owned data centre, having previously rented server space in London and Manchester.

Now the firm, which provides hosting for organisations such as Bostik, the Cabinet Office and Isotoma, has moved its first customers into the site, named YO26.

Bytemark, which last year turned over £3 million, has also self built its own cloud computing platform, BigV, which offers the world’s largest cloud servers.

To coincide with its expansion the business has recently appointed a new sales director and a head of external communications, bringing the total number of staff to 21.

Bryn Thomas, formerly of iomart Hosting, has joined as sales director, while Rajesh Joshi, former brand manager for Melbourne Hosting, has joined to lead Bytemark’s communications.

Matthew Bloch, co-founder and managing director of Bytemark Hostingwith Peter Taphouse, said: “With our rapid growth, we needed more space and people.

“I’m delighted to welcome Josh and Bryn to Bytemark who both bring strong experience from the hosting industry and will help take our message out to a wider audience.

“Building our own data centre in our home town of York has been an exciting challenge and its now the platform for the next stage of our growth.”

Sudlows was awarded the £650,000 contract for the design and build of the new centre, which also houses Bytemark’s new offices.

Mr Bloch added: “Being completely in control of our own infrastructure means we can confidently stand behind every single aspect of our service.

“We’re still the same technically led company that we’ve always been, which is why building our own cloud hosting service was important. We are proud of creating a robust platform, built on open standards and backed by our years of experience in customer support.”

Bytemark, which last year celebrated its 10th anniversary, was previously based at the Raylor Centre. Last year the firm turned over £3 million.