Member Article

Doncaster furniture retailer DFS strengthened with support of IT infrastructure firm

National furniture retailer DFS is using the support from a Yorkshire-based I.T. infrastructure company for its business continuity procedures.

DFS’ head office on Rockingham Way, Adwick-le-Street in Doncaster, will now have access to Onyx Group’s workplace recovery facility in Rotherham in a move that strengthens their already robust business continuity strategy.

The support will enable DFS to maintain its office operations in the event of an emergency situation occurring at its existing facility. DFS employ 250 people in Doncaster to manage the company’s accounts, HR, IT, payroll and marketing departments.

Also, Onyx Group’s South Yorkshire workplace recovery and data centre is just a short distance away from the DFS head office.

Dean Darby, head of IT at DFS, said: “If a situation occurred where we couldn’t access our head office, key personnel would be automatically re-located to the Onyx Group site in Rotherham.

“They will be able to use the desks there as if they were sat in their own office with full access to our existing software systems and telephones lines.

“This will allow them to continue their jobs as normal, but just in a new location. It’s extremely important to have the Onyx facility close-by as it will be just as easy for staff to get there as it is to our head office.”

Dean added: “It is important that a strong Head Office facility is up and running as quickly as possible in case of an emergency in order to support the store network around the country.

“The Onyx centre enables us to do this. We take great pride in our customer service levels and to have an effective contingency plan for our employees is vital to maintaining those high standards.”

Onyx Group’s Rotherham facility offers businesses access to a 250-seat workplace recovery centre, alongside a 320 rack state-of-the-art Data Centre. From this site Onyx can deliver Cloud hosting and backup, colocation, IT support and security.

Neil Stephenson, CEO of Onyx Group said: “We are pleased to support such a national brand as DFS and work with them on their disaster recovery procedures.

“Our state-of-the-art facility is ideally located between Sheffield, Doncaster, Barnsley and Rotherham to offer close-by assistance to businesses across Yorkshire whenever they need us.

“These reassurances are vital and provide companies with the knowledge they can continue operating not matter what happens to their facilities.

“Also, Onyx has the means through its extensive on-site data centre to replicate customers’ existing IT infrastructure to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible.”

DFS has more than 3,000 employees at its 100 stores around the country, including five factories, as well as the head office in Doncaster.

Onyx Group employs more than 120 staff across the country from ten sites and offices, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stockton-On-Tees, Newcastle, Rotherham and London.

The company, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, has seen turnover approach £20million in 2013, an increase of 13 per cent on the previous year.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .