Protecting UK business data since 2015.
Founded in London by two data centre engineers who believed enterprise-grade protection should be affordable for every UK business.
Our Story
Built by engineers, for businesses.
Datashield was founded in 2015 by two former data centre engineers, Tom Ashworth and Rachel Davies, who witnessed first-hand how many small and mid-sized businesses were left exposed by inadequate or unmonitored backup solutions.
Starting from a serviced office in London's Farringdon district, they built Datashield around three principles: simplicity, transparency, and the belief that enterprise-grade protection should be affordable for every business — not just those with six-figure IT budgets.
Today, Datashield protects over 500 businesses worldwide — from single-person consultancies to global enterprises. Our support team is based in London, and every member of staff completes annual ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus training.
2015
Year founded
500+
businesses protected worldwide
2
data centre regions
100%
UK-based support team
Compliance & Security
Independently verified. Continuously audited.
Our certifications aren't box-ticking exercises — they're the backbone of how we operate and how we protect your data.
ISO/IEC 27001:2022
International standard for information security management. Independently audited by BSI Group. Covers the design, development, and operation of our cloud backup and disaster recovery services.
Cyber Essentials Plus
UK Government-backed scheme requiring hands-on technical verification. Cyber Essentials Plus includes independent penetration testing and confirms our defences against the most common cyber attacks.
ICO Registration
Registered with the Information Commissioner's Office as both a Data Controller (for customer account data) and a Data Processor (for customer backup data). All processing activities are fully documented in our RoPA.
UK GDPR / DPA 2018
Full compliance with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. A dedicated Data Protection Officer is appointed. Privacy Impact Assessments are conducted for all new data processing activities. Sub-processor agreements in place with all third parties.
Our Values
What we stand for.
Transparency
We publish our platform uptime history publicly. There are no hidden charges, no minimum terms, no lock-in contracts. Our SLA is a financial commitment — not just a promise. If we fall short, you receive service credits automatically.
Security First
Zero-knowledge encryption: we cannot read your data. Immutable backups that even our own staff cannot delete or modify. Regular third-party penetration tests. We treat your data as if it were our own.
Data Sovereignty
You choose where your data lives — UK, EU, US, or APAC. Our London-based support team understands compliance requirements across jurisdictions: UK GDPR, EU GDPR, US HIPAA, SOC 2, and sector-specific regulations wherever you operate.
Our Journey
A decade of data protection.
2015
Datashield Ltd incorporated in London. Co-founders Tom Ashworth and Rachel Davies sign first 10 customers within three months of launch.
2016
Launched cloud backup platform v1.0. Achieved Cyber Essentials certification. First enterprise customer signed — a 200-seat legal firm in the City of London.
2017
Opened Manchester data centre, providing geographic redundancy. Team grows to 8 employees. First channel partner programme launched for MSPs.
2018
Launched Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS). Achieved ISO 27001:2013 certification — the first UK backup provider of our size to do so. 50th customer milestone.
2019
Launched Microsoft 365 Backup, covering Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams. 100th customer milestone. Named a finalist in the UK Cloud Awards.
2020
Rapid growth as businesses worldwide adopt remote working during COVID-19. Endpoint Backup launched to protect laptops outside the corporate perimeter. Customer base doubles in 12 months.
2021
Launched Managed Backup Service with 24/7 UK-based NOC monitoring. Team grows to 22 employees. Expanded London data centre with additional NVMe storage tier.
2022
250th customer milestone. Recertified to ISO 27001:2022 (latest revision). Expanded NOC to true 24/7 coverage. Launched public uptime status page.
2023
Launched Immutable Storage with optional air-gapped vault. Responded to a wave of ransomware incidents affecting UK SMEs — zero customer data-loss events recorded. 400+ customers protected.
2024
Zero data-loss incidents recorded across entire customer base for the calendar year. Awarded "UK Cloud Security Provider of the Year" by the Cloud Industry Forum. API launched for enterprise integrations.
2025
500+ customers protected. SIEM integration launched (Splunk and Microsoft Sentinel). Expanded partner programme to 40+ certified MSP partners across England, Scotland and Wales.
Leadership
The people behind Datashield.
Our leadership team brings together decades of experience in data centre operations, cloud engineering, customer success and information security.
Tom Ashworth
Co-Founder & CEO
Former Lead Infrastructure Engineer at Rackspace UK. 18 years in data centre operations and cloud services. Holds ITIL Expert and CCNP certifications.
Rachel Davies
Co-Founder & CTO
Former Head of Platform Engineering at BT Cloud. MSc Computer Science, University of Edinburgh. Specialises in distributed storage systems and resilient infrastructure design.
David Chen
Head of Customer Success
Previously a Senior Solutions Architect at Zerto and Veeam. 12 years specialising in backup, disaster recovery and business continuity for enterprises worldwide.
Priya Nair
Head of Compliance & Security
Chartered Information Security professional (CISSP, CISM). Former member of the ICO's Technology Advisory Panel. Leads our ISO 27001 programme and DPA compliance framework.