AVK appoints Paul Hood as chief operating officer

Data centre power solutions provider AVK has appointed Paul Hood as its new chief operating officer.

Hood brings to the role extensive experience as managing director and then COO of Yondr Group, now recognised as a significant player within the data centre sector. He has also been global operations director/managing director (Africa Region) at Pure Data Centres Group.

In addition, Hood has worked at Barclays as head of engineering Europe and at JP Morgan as head of engineering operations EMEA.

In the 13 years he was at JP Morgan, Paul ran the company’s entire infrastructure of data centres across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He was also responsible for managing an operating budget of $90 million.

According to AVK, Hood’s experience has mainly focused on systems/control engineering of building services, which has more recently diversified into the management of all aspects of building electrical systems.

As well as the planning and administration of multi-million pound engineering budgets, Hood’s special skills include carrying out inspections relating to environmental, health and safety, and fire and loss prevention. He was also one of the founders of the Universal Technical College (UTC), a network of free-to-attend schools for 14-19 year olds with a STEM focus.

Ben Pritchard, chief executive officer of AVK, said in a release that he was "genuinely excited" about Hood joining the team.

“He has a superb engineering brain, he is a very logical thinker and he has a real passion for working hard. Essentially, he believes in what he does. Paul doesn’t just bring vast global experience to AVK, he is a leader who has done it all. With Paul on board, AVK is going to be well placed to play a frontrunning role in the critical infrastructure power space in the UK and Europe.”

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Hood said he understands exactly where AVK has come from and where it is going in this incredibly competitive industry, because he has known the company for over 30 years.

“I am delighted to be working with some of the most committed infrastructure engineers in the world. I told Yondr I would build them a global business that they could be proud of and that’s exactly what I did. I leave that company with fond memories, having been there from the start, but it's time to move on and I'm now incredibly excited about what's in store for me at AVK.”

Hood's appointment also comes at a pivotal time for AVK, as the company advances plans to expand its integrated power solutions.

Over the coming months, AVK will strengthen its full power chain offering, from prime power and microgrids through to standby and modular energy solutions, with new capabilities that will further differentiate the company in the data centre market.

Added Hood: “I have a reputation for bringing the whole ‘boots to boardroom’ element of being a COO; I’ve worked as an engineer, and I want to be an enabler for our engineers and take their viewpoint to the board.

Hood will play a key role in elevating AVK’s Service & Maintenance operations, strengthening client relationships, and shaping long-term partnerships.