Full Fibre UK ISP Hyperoptic Appoints Ex-Three Chief as CFO UPDATE

Internet provider Hyperoptic, which builds 1Gbps capable “full fibre” (FTTP/B) broadband networks to large residential (MDU) buildings, office blocks and some houses, has today appointed the former Chief Commercial Officer of mobile operator Three UK, Richard Woodward, to be their new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Hyperoptic’s gigabit fibre is currently present in parts of 43 UK towns and cities across well over 400,000 premises, and they’ve previously expressed an ambition to cover 2 million UK premises by the end of 2021, followed by 5 million come the end of 2024 (mostly in urban areas). But we haven’t had a solid progress update on this for a long time.

As part of the provider’s ongoing deployment, they’ve now hired Richard Woodward to replace Peter White in the role of CFO. Peter had only been in the role for two years, albeit long enough to oversee its last round of private equity funding, which he secured in October 2019 when investment firm KKR became Hyperoptic’s majority shareholder (here).

Meanwhile, Richard has held a variety of senior corporate finance and operational roles, both in the UK and internationally. Since 2010 he was the CFO, and subsequently the CCO, of mobile operator Three UK. Richard will now be responsible for the finance, risk, procurement, legal and regulatory functions within Hyperoptic. He will also be providing strategic input as part of Hyperoptic’s executive C-suite.

Dana Tobak, CEO of Hyperoptic, said:

“The race is on to Gigabit Britain, and we are committed to deliver on our vision of connecting as many people as possible to our full fibre network. For Hyperoptic to secure the market share it deserves, we need to have the best and brightest people working together and going beyond the expected. Richard brings a wealth of strategic, financial and operational experience working in rapidly-growing businesses and is a welcome addition to our board.”

End.

UPDATE 7th April 2021

We spotted through other sources that Peter Ryan, Hyperoptic’s only recently appointed MD of Network Infrastructure, also appears to have left the ISP. Sadly, this wasn’t mentioned in the above announcement, but we were able to query it.

A Spokesperson for Hyperoptic told ISPreview.co.uk:

“Pete Ryan made a personal decision to leave Hyperoptic a couple of months ago to stay with his family in Australia, due to the changing nature of Covid restrictions on international travel and borders shutting between countries. We completely understood his decision and have wished him the best with his future career.

The Managing Director, Infrastructure role is now being ably covered by Lisa Harrington, who knows Hyperoptic well and is an excellent addition to the team.”