1,000 new jobs plan as retailer snaps up UK2
FAST-GROWING online health and beauty retailer The Hut Group plans to create 1,000 tech jobs in the north over the next three years.
The announcement comes after the company bought internet service provider UK2 from its private equity owner LDC.
This will allow the Cheshire headquartered firm to step-change underlying cloud and security infrastructure that underpins the platform from which they sell their health and beauty brands.
The Hut Group will invest heavily behind the existing UK2 management team and their employee base to support the growth of key brands such as 100TB.
They will also offer UK2’s services to existing technology clients including DMGT, Nintendo, Unilever, Nectar, Honda and Elizabeth Arden.
According to an insider, the jobs will cover infrastructure roles, AI + machine learning, front-end development, site reliability, mobile app development and warehouse management systems.
Matthew Moulding, founder and chief executive officer of The Hut Group, said: “This is a significant technology investment to support our growth plans and provide a world class proprietary ecommerce platform and infrastructure to increase capacity, speed and resilience for our global customer base.
“We are delighted to welcome UK2 and their highly-skilled technology-based team of people to THG.
“The move will also see UK2 become a core part of our technology proposition within the THG Platform Division, helping us achieve our ambition of becoming a world class platform for technology clients.
“We expect this to be the start of further significant investment in UK technology with a further 1,000 new technology jobs planned over the next three years.”
UK2’s talent base increases the headcount of technology staff to over 600 across the group.
Established in 1998, UK2 operates seven industry-leading brands providing server and cloud services to an international client base of SME and enterprise level corporates. This is coupled with data analytics, shared hosting and domain registration services.
UK2 employs over 200 individuals across 26 global locations.