UKCloud Placed Into ‘Compulsory Liquidation’

British public-sector cloud provider UKCloud, along with its parent Virtual Infrastructure Group, have been placed into liquidation.

The company, former known as Skyscape, acknowledged the development on its website, after creditors made a winding up order against the firm. The court appointed the Official Receiver, Gareth Jonathan Allen, as Liquidator.

Back in 2017, UKCloud had launched a division aimed at the healthcare industry, inducing research institutions, life sciences and pharmaceuticals organisations as well as NHS trusts and private healthcare companies.

Compulsory liquidation

The launch came at a time when healthcare organisations were looking to expand their use of digital and cloud technologies and broaden their data-sharing practices.

UKCloud was a prominent supplier to government procurement frameworks such as G-Cloud and the government’s Digital Marketplace

In 2017 it said it had powered more than 200 UK public sector projects.

The firm on Tuesday announced the following on its website: “UKCloud Limited and Virtual Infrastructure Group Limited – in Compulsory Liquidation.”

“On 25 October 2022, the Companies were placed into Liquidation with the Official Receiver appointed as Liquidator and J Robinson and A M Hudson simultaneously appointed as Special Managers to manage the liquidation process on behalf of the Official Receiver,” it said.

Compulsory liquidation orders are usually applied for by creditors, when a firm cannot pay their outstanding debts.

The government (via the Insolvency Service) also noted the development and published its own notice of the matter.

“On 25 October 2022, winding-up orders were made against Virtual Infrastructure Group Limited and UKCloud Limited and the court appointed the Official Receiver, Gareth Jonathan Allen, as Liquidator,” it said.

“The Official Receiver will wind-down the affairs of Virtual Infrastructure Group Limited and UKCloud Limited in an orderly manner in accordance with his statutory duties,” it added. “The Official Receiver also has a duty to investigate the cause of the companies’ insolvency and the conduct of current and former directors.”

Closure or sale

“The Official Receiver, with the assistance of the Special Managers, is maintaining operations whilst the liquidation strategy is being developed,” it concluded. “The strategy will consider the provision of services, transition of contracts and whether a sale is viable.”

The announcement may surprise some, considering the public profile of UKCloud, which was established in 2011 and boasted customers such as central and local governments, the police, the MoD, the NHS etc.

UKCloud is understood to have offered a range of cloud services such as Microsoft Azure, disaster recovery as a service, and even data centre modernisation, among others.