Directors

Gail Jones - commercial director

Gail is the co-founder and commercial director of UKFast. Her main responsibility is to manage the company's finances which means keeping a tight control of all purchasing and overseeing every project budget.

UKFast has an annual compound growth rate of 66 per cent thanks to a combination of her efficient handling of company capital and sustained excellent sales. In fact, over the past five years the company has increased turnover 894 per cent, a feat that has placed UKFast 28th on Deloitte's Technology Fast50 list of the 50 fastest growing IT companies in the UK.

As commercial director, Gail is also responsible for payroll. Furthermore, in addition to her primary finance duties, Gail manages all internal IT system projects and she plays a vital role in driving the company's senior management agenda.

Gail has been a director of UKFast from its inception. Prior to starting UKFast with husband Lawrence, Gail attended and graduated from Newcastle University's prestigious Sciences Faculty.

Neil Lathwood - IT director

As IT director at UKFast, Neil is in charge of delivering all hosting solutions to clients. In this respect he runs the technical core of UKFast's business. Neil manages the construction of servers, data centre deployment and all complimentary software creation and implementation. His leadership ensures that our clients and the solutions that we manage on their behalf are supported to our award-winning standards 24x7x365.

Furthermore, it is part of Neil's responsibilities to maintain UKFast at the cutting edge of our industry. His strategy allows the company to continue growing in regards to our technical abilities and stay ahead of the competition in regards to new technology, services and products.

Neil joined UKFast in 2000, making him one of UKFast's early visionaries. He has 15 years experience in the IT sector, 12 of those for hosting companies, which has made him an expert in many fields of IT, including Cisco Networks, Linux and Windows hosting.

Neil believes helping UKFast to attain its industry leading position is his proudest achievement.

Philosophy: 'Technology is nothing without a support team that ensures its success'

Paul Harris - marketing director

Paul joined UKFast in January 2009 having previously built up an impressive wealth of marketing experience with a string of FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 brands.

Prior to joining the company Paul was director of marketing for Dolphin Music. In that role he was responsible for creating and implementing an integrated marketing strategy that would drive the brand upwards into the UK's No. 1 position. Before working for Dolphin Paul was the marketing director at leading marketing consultancy Charles Mason & Associates.

In his position as marketing director for UKFast, Paul is responsible for charting the ongoing marketing strategy and for delivering a coherent and desirable proposition to clients and potential clients alike. Furthermore, as a proven expert in brand development and B2B marketing, Paul also focuses on the development and positioning of UKFast's portfolio of brands and on enhancing our relationship with business partners.

As a chartered marketer, Paul strongly believes in the power of a marketing strategy that is informed by customer insight and the competitive advantage gained by creating a happy customer community.

Jonathan Bowers - communications director

As communications director Jonathan develops strategic public relations and communications plans for UKFast. He is responsible for all of UKFast's written and visual content and as a master of many disciplines, he is also heavily involved in training, recruitment and corporate relations.

He has an extensive overview of businesses on the internet, due to partnerships that he forges with UKFast's client base. In an industry surrounded by jargon, he works to clearly explain and translate complex technical information delivering UKFast's human touch to the UK business environment. Jonathan is also the driving force behind the company's videocasting services and is the voice of the UKFast blog.

Prior to starting work at UKFast in 2004, Jonathan spent two years as a broadcast journalist with Independent UK radio and the BBC, followed by two and a half years developing writers on all disciplines for the BBC's New Writing department.

Read Jonathan's UKFast blog here

Kerry Gill - group finance director

Kerry became a member of the UKFast team in the summer of 2008. As group finance director, Kerry is tasked with maximising returns from all areas of the business. Kerry's expertise ensures UKFast's stability and viability for the long term. So with Kerry at the accounting helm, UKFast clients can be assured that their hosting provider is going to be there for them.

Before joining the company Kerry served as commercial financial controller of SurfControl plc, where she was an integral part of the finance team during the company's listing on the London Stock Exchange. During her time there the company grew from just 30 people to employing over 500, with profitable annual billings exceeding $100 million.

Kerry qualified as a chartered management accountant in 2001 and acquired an MBA with the Manchester Business School in December 2007.

Susie Mitchell - non-executive director

Susie Mitchell became a non-executive director for UKFast in 2009, having worked with the business in a consultative position since 2005. She is responsible for many aspects of team and personal development, working in particular in the areas of customer service and business development.

She is a life strategist, and is a specialist in the personal development field with over 25 years experience. Susie is a professionally trained coach and master practioner in NLP, hypnotherapy and time line therapy. She is an author of 'Sat Nav for the Soul', writes for newspapers and magazines, appears on TV and Radio and is a motivational and keynote speaker.

Susie is also one of the elite Tony Robbins trainers, and she supports Tony at events worldwide.

Her corporate and individual clients are from all types of industries and business including HBOS, Grant Thornton, luxury hotel chains, luxury retail and wealth management companies.

Philosophy: 'Live well, laugh often and love with passion'