CityReach: 'too ambitious, far too late'

NEWS Peers of failed data centre operator CityReach have blamed the company's over-ambitious plans for its spectacular demise. In the face of a declining data centre market the company burnt through £250m in its continued effort to set up a global string of facilities. Tim Anker, head of co-location trading at bandwidth exchange company Band-X, said CityReach would have had more chance of survival if it had developed more cautiously. He said: "CityReach's plans were too ambitious and came too late in the cycle." He added customers will face a period of uncertainty until the company finds a buyer. Massive hype engulfed the data centre market at the tail end of last year and many other companies besides CityReach made plans that in hindsight were not prudent. Nicholas Jeffery, MD of managed services company Worldport, said that many people fell for the hype and were reckless with their cash. He added that CityReach would be a nice buy for someone wanting to buy up data centre space. "It might get split up, but it would be a very good deal for maybe a telecoms operator who wants more infrastructure for 3G activities," he said.