On May 4th, we announced the opening of our brand new £18 million state of the art HQ in Reading. This has enabled us to create 50 new jobs and double the number of apprentices we take on each year from 20 to 40.
Our headquarters are part of a larger technology park that the founder, and owner, of Ultima, Max McNeill, has created to ensure the town becomes a hub for technology excellence. The new building provides a fresh and exciting environment to work from, including breakout areas and the latest mod cons to enable staff to collaborate and be creative - as well as a refined and high tech setting for meetings and workshops with our partners.
Equipped with the latest technology to help us improve ways of working and productivity, as well as enjoyment in the workplace, our HQ is designed to the latest office specifications using Ultima’s own Modern WorkSpace, Modern Data Centre and Assurance and Compliance offerings, helping to show clients how these products work in real life.
Our founder and owner Max McNeill explained the motivation for the investment, ‘With Crossrail coming to Reading I believe it’s a great opportunity for us. Manor Park was the old Thames Water HQ and over the past two years we have invested £18m in restoring the building from a shell into a 21st Century, state-of-the art headquarters. We have rented out some of the 40,000sq ft to other technology companies, including Fortinet and Veeam, who previously weren't based in the town. I’ve lived in the Reading area for 34 years and I have grown to support Reading FC over the years too. Ultima was the first sponsor of the West Stand at the Madjeski Stadium, so being able to contribute to local employment is very important to me and demonstrates our long term commitment to the community.'
On the evening of the 4th we welcomed our partners and associates to celebrate the future of Ultima and were delighted to have Gabby Logan interview our CEO, Scott Dodds, on the growth and modernisation of Ultima.
When asked about the future of Ultima, our CEO, Scott Dodds, commented, ‘We are entering a period of rapid growth and our watchword for both our customers and staff is ‘modernisation.’ Our new service offerings, and indeed our new office, are designed to deliver a range of refreshed IT solutions that address the latest business needs of IT users. From workspaces to data centres, whether on premise or cloud, companies are responding to the consumer-led demands for innovation, and the IT industry needs new models to support these modern trends. Our new propositions – Modern Workspace, Modern Data Centre and Assurance and Compliance - address current IT challenges, including cyber security risks, GDPR and cloud, allowing us to differentiate from our competition.’
We are confident that the evening, our new HQ and refreshed propositions demonstrate the strength of what Ultima can offer. We were so pleased to finally showcase the facility and were truly humbled by the support and positive feedback we received from all of those that attended.
See Ultima featured in the news:
Ultima waves the flag for Reading with HQ investment - Computer Weekly
Ultima invest in new Reading HQ - Reading Chronicle
Gabby Logan joins Ultima Celebrations - CRN