Broadband ISP Truespeed Mourns Passing of Chairman Clarke Osborn

The staff of alternative UK retail broadband ISP Truespeed, which now forms part of the wider FreedomTruespeed Group (FTG), were informed last week that the rural internet provider’s former Chairman since 2014, Clarke Osborne, had sadly passed away after being unwell for some time.

Clarke was a founder-shareholder of Wandsdyke Networking which later evolved to become Truespeed Communications. He joined the Truespeed board as its non-executive Chairman in 2014 and continued in this role until earlier this year. Suffice to say, he has been a pivotal figure in the business for many years and worked alongside the executive team and Aviva Investors to conclude the recent merger with Freedom Fibre.

Post merger, Clarke is understood to have stepped away from Board responsibilities to focus on his health, although his sudden loss has come as an understandable shock to both the team and his family. Out of respect for the situation, ISPreview will close the comments on this article after sharing the message that Truespeed put out to their team. Rest in peace Clarke.

In Memoriam: Clarke Osborne

We are deeply saddened to let you know that Clarke Osborne, former Chairman of Truespeed Communications passed away earlier in August.

As many of you know, Clarke was a founder-shareholder of Wandsdyke Networking Limited which later evolved to become Truespeed Communications. He joined the Truespeed board as its non-executive Chairman in 2014 and continued in this role until earlier this year.

Clarke played a huge part in the successful journey of Truespeed through multiple rounds of funding and mergers. In collaboration with the Executive Team and the Board of Directors, he helped to steer the business by securing seed funding first and later securing significant investment from Aviva Investors. He was instrumental in shaping the merger between Truespeed and County Broadband and in concluding the merger with Freedom Fibre to form the Freedom Truespeed Group.

Besides his role on the Truespeed board, Clarke has had a distinguished career as a successful international entrepreneur across multiple industries including sports and entertainment, property development, real estate and telecoms.

Personally speaking, Clarke interviewed me for my role at Truespeed and convinced me to move to Somerset from Sweden; through my initial years, through leadership changes and through multiple mergers, he has been a steady source of support and optimism for both the company and it’s investors. He helped us navigate the great and the prickly mundane; from complex multi-million deals to complicated organisation changes to smoothing senior management issues, his calm advice and cultural wisdom was indispensable in resolving many a sticky situation.

Clarke’s fierce tenacity, relentless optimism, charismatic touch and deal shaping abilities were deeply impactful at Truespeed over the years; for those who’ve had the privilege of knowing and working alongside him, I am sure you will agree that he was a force of nature and will be greatly missed.

Clarke is survived by his wife and children. We have passed on our condolences to his family and are supporting them through this difficult period.