Interview: Steamhaus founder Daniel Keighron-Foster

This week I got a chance to chat with Daniel Keighron-Foster, the man heading up the newest brand on Manchester’s thriving tech startup scene.

From its base on Hilton Street in the city’s Northern Quarter, Steamhaus works to source, design, build, maintain and manage the cloud setups of digital and creative enterprises across the North West.

When you consider the particulars of Daniel’s entrepreneurial past, it makes perfect sense that he’d channel his efforts into setting up a cloud consultancy. “My background is firmly rooted in cloud,” he explained. “I founded Melbourne Server Hosting when I was 18, growing it from a startup to a business of nearly 40 people before selling three years ago.

“I had some time away to focus on family and a few other projects but really wanted to get stuck back in earlier this year.”

Steamhaus boasts a small, close-knit team with combined experience of more 50 years, Daniel told me. “I’ve personally invested £500k in the business,’ he said, “and every member of staff has significant equity which means they have a say in how the business is run and how we grow – it’s their company.”

Obviously, what a business actually does is far more important than how it looks. But as a sucker for design and, admittedly, a bit of an aesthete, I had to ask Daniel about Steamhaus’ branding.

We decided to move away from a traditional ‘tech’ look and feel, and towards something that played to Manchester’s industrial heritage.

The firm’s aesthetic struck me as immediately unique – a standout steampunk blend of gilded 1920s splendour and the soot-choked brass of Victorian industrialism.

“Right from the beginning,” Daniel said, “we wanted the branding to feel quite different. We decided to move away from a traditional ‘tech’ look and feel, and towards something that played to Manchester’s industrial heritage.

“We threw some ideas around and came up with the steampunk theme and the airship parting its way through the clouds – the name, office interior and general look and feel just fell into place from there.”

The Northern Quarter, Daniel told me, seemed like the perfect location choice. Discussing the decision to launch in the heart of Manchester’s creative zone, he said: “It was really important that we were based somewhere that reflected the type of people we are and the customers we want to attract, also, that there was stuff going on.

“There’s a fantastic sense of community [in the Northern Quarter] coupled with some great places to eat and drink, making it the perfect hub for us to set up shop.”

The area also boasts what Daniel called “a real willingness to see people do well, particularly in the tech and startup scene”.

He used the SpacePortX development as an example of the great co-working space available, adding: “Once location was sorted, we wanted to make the space a cool and user-friendly environment – a place that our staff would enjoy coming to each day and could feel inspired in.”

Despite only officially launching at the beginning of October, Steamhaus has already attracted a handful of customers.

Daniel said: “As a startup, you’re involved in pretty much every aspect of the business. One of my main aims as we grow is to move away from working on the day to day.

The cloud has matured a lot over the last few years with businesses of all sizes continuing to move towards it.

“We’ve got a fantastic team that cover every aspect of Steamhaus’ operations, so they don’t need me to get involved in every detail. For now however, it’s all hands on deck!”

I’m interested in the changing needs of businesses from a technological standpoint. When I quizzed Daniel about the ways in which companies’ cloud requirements have shifted in recent years, he replied: “The cloud, in its many different forms, has improved efficiency and dramatically simplified purchasing and using software, making hosting more efficient, powerful and cost effective.

“Despite this, it can still be a minefield, which is where we come in. The cloud has matured a lot over the last few years with businesses of all sizes continuing to move towards it.”

Daniel’s business might be rooted in the cloud, but his feet are firmly planted in the real world when it comes to his ambitions for Steamhaus.

The business needs to grow organically, and at its own pace.

“As a startup with lots of outgoings,” he said, “we obviously need to build to a certain size within the next year to break even.

“However, I’ve never been one to push massive growth for the sake of it. The business needs to grow organically, and at its own pace.

“I always feel artificial growth targets can cause staff to become overworked and standards to slip in companies,” he added.

“We’ve got plenty of plans to build out some new product offerings as we progress and expand our team.”

If you enjoyed this interview, have a read of my conversation with 17-year-old Chester businessman Arran Rice or Bury-based entrepreneur Jack Barmby.