Rural UK Broadband ISP and FTTP Builder GoFibre Appoints CEO

Independent rural broadband ISP GoFibre (BorderLink) has announced the appointment of Neil Conaghan as their new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The move is part of the provider’s effort to expand their full fibre (FTTP) network to cover 500,000 premises (here) in the North of England and Scottish Borders by around the end of 2025.

Changes in senior management like this often follow after a major funding announcement, which in this case reflects the operator’s announcement in January, when they successfully secured funding of £164m from Gresham House (BSIF) to help build their new Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network.

Since then, GoFibre has also secured two key rollout contracts under the UK Government’s new £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme, including one for 3,750 premises in North Northumberland (here) and another to help connect 4,000 premises in Teesdale (here).

As for Neil Conaghan, he will take up the role of CEO on 15th November 2022. Neil previously spent 11 years working as the CEO and CFO of business ISP XLN Business Services (XLN Telecom), which was successfully sold to Daisy Communications for £210m earlier this year. Going further back, he has also held positions at KPMG, HSBC and Vodafone.

Neil Conaghan, Incoming GoFibre CEO, said:

“I’m looking forward to joining and leading the GoFibre team as we deliver world-class connectivity to communities across Scotland and Northern England.

The business is well placed to continue on recent Project Gigabit successes with a clear vision and the capability to deliver. On a personal note, I’m passionate about the opportunities that delivering broadband to under-served communities brings, opening opportunities for economic growth, education and employment.”

The likely change of CEO was first signalled in October, alongside a significant restructuring of the company’s top leadership team (here). As part of that, GoFibre’s former CEO and founder, Alex Cacciamani, and co-founder, Laura Cacciamani, said they would be “stepping back from their roles to focus on new entrepreneurial challenges“.