Tony McDonough meets DENNIS KEHOE, chief executive of AIMES Grid Services

FOUR years ago Professor Dennis Kehoe was faced with a choice – see out his working days in a cosy and secure academic post or fulfil his potential as a technology entrepreneur.

He chose the latter and not only was that a massive decision for him – it could also prove to have been a pivotal moment for Liverpool.

In fact, spend just a few seconds in his presence and you realise that the energy and enthusiasm he possesses means he most likely made that decision in the blinking of an eye.

The result is that Prof Kehoe, 55, is now the chief executive of AIMES Grid Services, based at Liverpool Innovation Park (LIP) in Wavertree.

AIMES is a community interest company which specialises in cloud computing services.

It is also overseeing the city’s £1m Government-funded Fibrenet project which has created a digital ring road offering world-beating broadband speeds to business.

Last week it was announced that AIMES had secured £1.2m of investment to build the first phase of a next-generation data centre.

It will develop a 35,000 sq ft 1.5 megawatt facility at its Liverpool Innovation Park base in Edge Lane which will boast an innovative cooling system that will save 3,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, catapulting the city to the forefront of energy-efficient digital provision in the UK.

The funding comprises £200,000 from Royal Bank of Scotland-owned NatWest, £150,000 from venture capital provider Merseyside Special Investment Fund’s Merseyside Loan and Equity Fund, with the remainder being private investment.

AIMES currently provides cloud computing services to a number of private sector clients including Park Group and Novartis Vaccines.

But the potential of this new facility – along with Fibrenet – to Liverpool goes far beyond that.

Prof Kehoe believes what the company is building will be truly transformational for Liverpool’s commercial future.

“What we are looking to do here is create a cloud computing campus that will truly put Liverpool on the map,” he said.

“The way private cloud services work is that we replicate all of a client’s digital storage and activity in our server at LIP.

“This means that if their on-site system goes down, they can move staff here in a matter of hours and be back up and running.

“What we are providing is what we call an enterprise-class data centre. There is about 3m sq ft of such space in the UK at the moment with 90% located within the M25.

“Companies and other organisations across the UK are currently storing their data across 80m sq ft of older less energy-efficient space that in many cases is no longer fit for purpose.

“We have to get that data that is in the 80m sq ft into the 3m sq ft.”

Combining AIMES’ storage capacity along with the Fibrenet project gives Liverpool a world-class digital infrastructure – making it hugely attractive for the setting up or relocation of digital businesses.

Prof Kehoe added: “When the internet revolution first came about Manchester became a hub for that digital exchange infrastructure.

“That allowed its technology sectors to grow faster than in most other cities outside London, including Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds and Newcastle.

“Fibrenet gives businesses in Liverpool high-speed access to the cloud facilities.

“Manchester may have been at the forefront of the internet revolution but in 2012 Liverpool is now a leader in cloud technology.” Prof Kehoe says this means the city can now become a test-bed for major projects. AIMES is currently working with the European Space Agency on a project that involves the tracking of freight transport.

“These are multi-million pound projects that can now be done from here,” he added.

PROF KEHOE was born and brought up in Liverpool and attended Anfield Comprehensive. As a teenager he was sports-mad and his ambition, like countless others, was to play football for Everton.

In his case that wasn’t as far-fetched as it may seem. As a young man he boasted considerable sporting prowess – he played volleyball for England and represented the North West at basketball.

However, his headteacher at Anfield had other ideas.

“I did want to be a professional sportsman and one piece of advice that I got was to become a PE teacher,” said Prof Kehoe.

“The headteacher persuaded me to stay on – he believed I had the potential to go to Oxford or Cambridge.”