Virgin Media Business sees sales increase by 1.2 per cent

Virgin Business Media saw its sales increase by 1.2% to £154m compared to the same period last year, as the company saw an increase in public sector business. 

Growth in the division is being driven in part by the public sector, aided by Virgin Media Business' accreditation as a Public Services Network provider, said Mark Heraghty, managing director of Virgin Media Business.

"The last quarter has seen a number of key developments for Virgin Media Business - with landmark deals being signed and new products being launched, all supporting our continued journey to further growth," he said.

Overall financial results at Virgin Media, which include the company's consumer division, showed sales growth of 2.2% to £1bn year-on-year.

Significant public sector deals included contracts with IT Professional Services Newcastle (ITPS) and Lancashire and Cumbria Primary Care Trust.

Virgin Media Business recently teamed up with web hosting and services provider Savvis to offer a contract-free cloud computing service to companies using Virgin Media's fibre-optic cable network and Savvis's enterprise virtual private datacentre. 

In August the company announced a contract with MBNL, a joint venture company owned by Three and Everything Everywhere, worth more than £100m to provide Ethernet services over an eight year period. 

"Virgin Media Business is pursuing its strategy to increase market share by focusing on growth in business data and leveraging our unique asset - a fibre optic network that passes more than half of all UK businesses. As a result, we're continuing to see strong growth in retail data, up 13.5% year-on-year," said the company.