A rapidly expanding data centre in the heart of Newcastle is earning its stripes by planning to double its staff levels over the next 12 months.

ZebraHosts, which provides server hosting and data storage amongst its extensive range of services, is launching a recruitment drive to add a range of new roles to its existing team, making it one of the largest data centres in the region.

The appointments are being made as part of an expansion strategy developed to cope with increased demand.

Commented Managing Director Nick Collins, "We anticipate that to meet the forecasted demand we must increase staff levels across the board, leading to the creation of at least another seven new jobs over the next year." He continued, "Growing the team to support existing departments and to offer new expertise is crucial to ensure the future success of the business."

ZebraHosts will be appointing a range of positions in the coming months including Systems Engineers, Sales and Account Handlers and Administration Support.

But as Nick explained, appointing the right I.T professionals in the region is not always easy, "There is a real recruitment crisis in the North East I.T industry; many new graduates still head to London, so good people are hard to find. But with the industry blossoming in the region and continuously winning work from across the UK and beyond, the opportunities are tremendous."

The company puts much of its success down to the fact that the business community in the North East is becoming more reliant on its I.T than ever before and becoming much more I.T literate. Many are growing out of their existing systems, requiring better, faster networking and externally hosted servers.

ZebraHosts offers a range of solutions to companies who have outgrown or are refreshing their online capability and are on hand 24/7 in the event of an emergency, to ensure their clients systems are always on line.

This demand for a 24/7 technical service has also resulted in the need for more staff at the Westgate Road based company and the first appointments are expected during the summer.

ZebraHosts offers services including server hosting, network planning and design, data management and storage, co-location and security consultancy, has been in business for five years and already boasts a client list including NECC, The Ambulance Service, Imass and Enigma Interactive