As part of the £15 million Get Digital Faster programme of introducing super fast broadband into Stockport, The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport made a visit to Cloud 9 Hosts last Friday.

Cloud 9 Hosts met with The Rt Hon Sajid Javid at their premises in Hazel Grove to discuss the benefits of the upgrade and what it means for their business and future opportunities.

Stockport has a rich heritage in manufacturing and engineering, it also has a growing innovative digital community that requires fast connectivity. Stockport is home to web designers, cloud businesses, video production, creative and arts. Plus a backbone of professional services all reliant on the internet to manage customers and trade efficiently locally and internationally.

Stockport is leading the way and the upgrade is being lead by Transport for Greater Manchester and BT on behalf of The Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Whilst the programme will help the business community it will also create 500 new jobs.

Businesses could not survive or accelerate growth without such connectivity. Graham Saul is the owner of Cloud 9 Hosts, a cloud service provider, and says it has enabled him to offer new services and develop his business and future proof his offering.

“I run a cloud computing business and it is important that my team and clients have uninterrupted connectivity and expect upload and download times to be fast and acceptable. In some cases our domestic broadband has been faster than commercial services. This is now changing and it will give business like mine many opportunities to expand and grow our client base”.

Graham is set to launch a new cloud storage service in February aimed at the business market. There are just a few products out there for SME’s that offer reliability and above all security and Cloud 9 Hosts have invested in the hardware and technology, listened to the concerns businesses have for security, and developed a product.

“Having the confidence in the digital investment means we can all think differently about our services. It does open opportunities that would not be feasible with slower connections. It also will make Stockport a more attractive choice for relocating businesses.”

Other delegates at the event included Eammon Boylan, Chief Executive of Stockport Council and Jim Jackson who is the Regional Infrastructure Delivery Director – North for Open Reach.