We are here to help you get your gov.uk, gov.wales, llyw.cymru, gov.scot, ac.uk and sch.uk domain registered and your website hosting setup and active. Our specialist domains and package team will guide you through the whole process. As a member of Nominet and JISC, we can register or transfer and manage the renewal of any of these domains.
Our specialist team can help you with the process to transfer your domain to us, so we can manage your domain and renewal securely on your behalf.
We are recognised as one of the largest independent hosting companies in the UK specialising in council, government & education email and web hosting. We currently provide domains, hosting and email to 650+ councils, government and education departments and adding more every day.
Cloud Next are authorised by Nominet and the Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO) to manage GOV.UK domains.
Cloud Next are named and approved as a Crown Commercial Service Supplier, awarded through the Government's G-Cloud Digital Marketplace. As a supplier, we can provide Cloud hosting services to the UK public sector under the Crown Commercial Service framework agreements.
At Cloud Next we take cybersecurity seriously. We continuously work to ensure we provide fast and secure web hosting for all our customers. We are certified by the UK Government-backed Cyber Essentials accreditation – demonstrating that we adhere to recommended IT security practices to keep customer data safe and protect our customers against the most common cyber attacks.
MyNCSC provides a common point of entry to a number of the NCSC’s Active Cyber Defence (ACD) services. The NCSC’s digital services from ACD and elsewhere, are designed to improve an organisation's approach to cyber security. Managed by Cloud Next on your behalf, these services are applied as part of our packages.
Web Check - Web Check helps identify and fix common security issues on your websites.
Mail Check - Mail Check assists with email security configuration and reporting.
Early Warning - Early Warning helps investigate cyber attacks by notifying us of malicious activity that has been detected.
Cloud Next are authorised by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to manage and provide MyNCSC.
Thank you Cloud Next we would highly recommend
5 Star review from Alkborough Walcot PC. All Cllrs are now set up with email addresses. The transition was seamless. I'm a stickler for a good support team and Cloud Next have the best support team I have had dealings with, very fast responses and always helpful in a non tech language I could understand. Being a clerk who works mainly at night so after the usual 9-5 the support team where on hand well after 6pm. Thank you Cloud Next we would highly recommend.Lindsay O'Connor
March 2024
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We are one of the first hosting providers to be Powered by 100% Renewable Energy; not just carbon offsetting. This means a direct relationship between our datacentre's and the power they use to ensure it is from 100% renewable sources.
Our ethos and green credentials provide you with the knowledge that when you have your hosting with us, you are in a small but very important way helping to battle climate change. Our team have the opportunity to enrol in a Cycle to Work Scheme and we operate a Paperless Office.
PuE (Power usage Effectiveness) is the ratio of the energy used by our Data Centre against the energy used by our Data Centre to deliver its services. The PuE is higher for more inefficient Data Centres and our PuE is on average 1.12 (very efficient).
We provide 24/7 UK in-house support from your Account Control Panel with our secure support ticket system.
Our secure support ticket system allows you to contact us with any queries or issues you are having at any time. Our fast response times (generally within minutes) means a faster resolution to your query.
There is no limit on the number of support tickets you can have open or the number of times you contact us. Simply make contact anytime you have a question, query or if you are experiencing an issue you need help with. Our team of experienced, enthusiastic top-rated support agents will be able to help.
Malware, spam, hackers and security breaches are a 24/7 security concern. By default, our hosting provides security to keep you safe against harmful web attacks. All of our hosting packages come with free SSL certificates, malware scanning, are PCI-DSS compliant, include 1 Tbps+ DDoS protection as well as brute force login protection and email scans plus much more.
The tools we provide help you to save time, money and protect your sites. All security tools & services are included in all hosting packages. We will never charge you for these - you shouldn't have to pay for website security.
The Practitioner's Guide March 2024
The importance of using .gov.uk domains for websites and emails
5.210. All Parish, Town and Community Councils are eligible to use, and are advised to use, a .gov.uk domain for their websites and email communications. Your community, suppliers and partners will now reasonably expect a local council to have a .gov.uk domain name. Note that Parish meetings are exempt from the requirement to have a website.
5.211. To assist with compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), it is advised that clerks provide official .gov.uk email accounts to their councillors, which must only be used for official council business.
5.212. When choosing a domain name all councils must follow the rules set out by the Cabinet Office to choose a .gov.uk domain name, for example, ‘ourparishcouncil.gov.uk’ with email addresses linked to that domain.
5.213. Using a .gov.uk domain for your council website and email accounts gives Parish Councils the following advantages:
5.214. Increased professionalism and trust from members of your community, partners and suppliers because your email address and website domains are a trusted government brand.
5.215. Separation of your personal life from your professional life, ensuring members of your community, partners and suppliers understand what capacity you are emailing them in - whether a Councillor or Clerk.
5.216. Increased control for the Responsible Officer over email accounts and documentation when managing new joiners, leavers, sudden absences or Freedom of Information and Subject Access Requests.
5.217. Peace of mind that your .gov.uk Parish Council domain will never be sold to someone else if it is not renewed on time, which can happen with .co.uk, .org.uk and other commercial domains.
5.218. Additional security measures, as all .gov.uk domains are checked for any cyber vulnerabilities by the Cabinet Office and reported to the Responsible Owner, or your technical point of contact, so they can be fixed.
5.219. You can read more about the benefits of getting a .gov.uk domain on the GOV.UK website.
https://www.nalc.gov.uk/library/our-work/jpag/4040-practitioners-guide-2024/file
We know you need flexibility for invoice payments and credit/debit card payments are not always available to you. That's why our dedicated team will guide you through the alternatives.
You can pay for the registration and renewals of your domains and hosting through BACS as well as Cheque payments to make life easier for you. Of course our standard payment methods of credit/debit card and PayPal are available to you.
We understand that payments commonly need to be authorised, so we offer flexibility for payment and renewal dates.
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Find answers to the frequently asked questions about our Council Hosting. Do you have a question that isn't listed? Get in touch.
Everything we do is UK based! From our sales, in-house support and management teams to our entire hosting platform (all servers and sites) we are 100% UK based. This means you can be assured that you meet the data protection act of 2018 (GDPR). Learn more about us.
For Web and WordPress hosting, we have a number of packages available, if you contact us we can provide advice on the most appropriate for your needs.
The process to do this is straight forward and we simply require a few details from the Clerk or RFO in order to complete this. We then submit the information to the CDDO to process and this then will be registered within 5 working days.
Yes. This process is very easy and all we require is the TAC (Transfer Authorisation Code) from your current provider to complete this. More information can be found at https://registrars.nominet.uk/registry/dot-gov-uk/policies/#transfer.
Yes, we have a Migration Centre that can transfer your existing website and email, normally this only takes a few hours to complete.
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