Metronet UK Set to Expand Hybrid Fibre Optic and Wireless Network

Business ISP Metronet UK, which is based in Manchester (England) and runs a carrier-grade hybrid superfast fibre optic and wireless broadband network, has announced plans for a further geographic expansion of its network after the management team completed a £45m secondary buyout of the business with support from ISIS Equity Partners.

The first management buyout, which was backed by private equity firm LDC, occurred two years ago and injected an additional £11m of equity funding into the provider to help it expand and enable the ISPs existing backers to exit (here). Since then the business has continued to grow, with revenues reaching close to £12m in March 2014 (30% increase in turnover).

As a result of this success the management team, which is headed by 2003 founder James McCall and CEO Elliott Mueller, has now completed a secondary buyout of the business and plans to use this as a platform from which to further expand their UK footprint. The network currently reaches across large parts of Greater Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Warrington, Chester and Crewe.

Elliott Mueller, CEO of Metronet UK, said:

“Metronet (UK) has enjoyed a decade of growth and is now seen as one of the leading lights in the industry. We have a very simple mission: to offer our customers a breath of fresh air from the traditional telecoms market.

This funding partnership will bring new faces and even more energy to the management team at Metronet (UK), and will be the springboard for our expansion across the country. We look forward to announcing our expansion plan over the coming months.”

The ISP currently employs 80 staff and is already in the process of moving to larger offices at their existing HQ, with Mueller hinting at major plans to invest in the network over the coming years to support geographic expansion. The operator also has over 1,200 customers, such as Manchester City Council, Arqiva, Autotrader, Umbro and Capgemini etc.

After the last buyout Metronet UK put a lot of effort into expanding the reach of their network and we expect a similar surge in activity this time around, although they could find themselves up against more competition as rivals like CityFibre and Hyperoptic begin to expand their reach into some potentially similar areas.