Pictured: (l-r) Dr Hardman MBE (CEO, BSPA), Richard Carty and Tony Sterling, both of Netshield, at the launch at Netshield's new datacenter at BSPA

The opening of a new state of the art datacentre at Birmingham Science Park Aston (BSPA) is 'a significant and exciting step' for Midlands-based Netshield, according to its Commercial Director Richard Carty.

Speaking at the centre's official opening ceremony, attended by over eighty representatives of the region's business, professional services, telecommunications and IT sectors, Richard Carty commented: "The datacentre at BSPA is the first building block in what we hope will be a long and lasting relationship between Netshield and BSPA. This is a significant step for the business and BSPA is the ideal location for our new centre. 

"Not only is this an exciting stage in the expansion of our portfolio of datacentres, which includes a centres in Aldridge and Nottingham, it is significant for the company and its presence and resource in the area. Our trio of datacentres significantly strengthens the managed IT service we can provide organisations locally, nationally and internationally.

"The datacentre represents the foundation for what we hope will be a long working relationship with BSPA, including we hope our involvement in the new Digital Plaza scheduled to begin construction next year."

Also speaking at the event, Dr David Hardman, MBE, Chief Executive Officer of BSPA said: "We are delighted to see this new Netshield datacentre in our facilities. The fact that the company is growing and becoming such a significant private IT services provider in the region is good news. Such investment into Birmingham's digital economy is to be welcomed and BSPA looks forward to working with Netshield in the future as it continues to grow."

The event also marked the launch of Netshield's fundraising for Birmingham Children's Hospital - more than £600 was raised on the night through donations and a charity raffle. "We are delighted the event raised so much for Birmingham Children's Hospital," said Richard, "thanks to the generosity of our guests and partners on the night."

Netshield is a specialist provider of managed IT services, and its new datacentre at BSPA will create four jobs in its first phase, with plans to add a further two technical staff later this year. The company provides managed IT services to a range of industry sectors including legal, financial and property, as well as the recruitment sector, business services, catering and hospitality.