A landmark debate focusing on the future of Investment in the UK’s Digital Economy.

Tickets are going fast so please register to attend as soon as possible. Admission charges, where applicable, are purely to cover the costs of the event. Attendees from the public sector should contact christine@ukfcf.org.uk to obtain a free ticket.

The event is kindly hosted by the Rt. Hon. Mark Tami MP.

The debate will be opened by Sir Chris Bryant-Shadow Minister for Culture and Digital.

Panel members confirmed are;

• Rob Kenny-Co- founder of Communication chambers
• Schellion Horn-Grant Thornton- Partner, Co-head of Economic Consulting, Grant Thornton.
• Richard Flint-Chief Strategy Officer at AllPoints Fibre
• Paul Morris- Head of Government Affairs and Sustainable Business-Vodafone
• Matt Hammond -Partner at Foresight Group.
• Charles Cameron -Partner at Cameron Barney LLP.

The debate will focus on:

• The Investor’s approach to opportunities in the current economic climate
• The UK Government’s policy in tackling rural digital infrastructure
• The Shadow Government’s digital infrastructure policy
• Mergers, acquisitions, and consolidation within the Altnets

The evening will start with arrivals at 6.30pm. From 7.00 pm to 7.30 pm there will be a series of short speeches by keynote speakers from the Parliament. This will be followed by a panel discussion and a Q&A session util 9.30 pm. There will then be food and drinks and a networking opportunity for our guests. The event will conclude by 10.30 pm.

Formal invitations will be sent out to confirmed attendees just prior to the event. Entrance is strictly by invitation only.

The ticket price is purely to cover the costs of the event. The room capacity is limited , so please register to attend as early as possible.

Admission is free to Public Sector attendees. Please contact christine@ukfcf.org.uk to obtain a promo code to reveal these hidden tickets.

About UKFCF

The UK Fibre Connectivity Forum (“the Forum”) is an association of membership striving for digital connectivity across the whole of the UK. It is a not-for-profit organisation run by volunteers and relying on sponsorship to fund its activities.

The Forum is committed to working to support and advise policy makers to deliver policies that can create a fertile environment for the rapid growth of the UK’s digital economy.

Its mission is to be a vocal group, lobbying, influencing, and educating policy makers as to the most fair and efficient way to put an end to the digital divide.

How can Altnets unlock their investment potential? An interactive networking event with major investment firms and consultants.

We have invited investors, business consultants, and M&A advisers to give their view of the economic forecast for the industry and to look at how Altnets can break down barriers to access funding. This will be a very interactive session which will provide thought provoking debate and an overview of the process and parameters applied in the valuation of assets.

Speakers include:

Robert Kenny -“Prospects for alt-net consolidation”.

Rob Kenny is a founding member of Communications Chambers, a UK-based strategy and policy consultancy working in telecoms and media. His clients for telecoms projects have included Ofcom, the Australian Government, BT, Vodafone, Virgin Media, Sky, O2, KCOM, Gigaclear, Telstra, Google, Amazon, Netflix, the Broadband Stakeholder Group and many others. Rob acted as an advisor on broadband policy to Malcolm Turnbull, subsequently prime minister of Australia.

He previously headed strategy and/or M&A for Level 3, Reach and Hongkong Telecom. In those roles he conducted numerous multi-million- and billion-dollar negotiations with commercial entities and regulators. He has a degree in mathematics and management from Cambridge University.

Jonathan Dann-“Consolidation, if not, what next”?

Jonathan has spent four years at Greenhill & Co focussed on digital infrastructure globally. Before that he spent 20+ years in equity research at RBC, Barclays, JP Morgan-Bear Stearns and HSBC. He started his career in fund management at USS.

Hector Lloyd-“Present and expected trends in M&A and consolidation”.

Hector Lloyd, Director, is a member of the BlackRock Private Equity Partners (PEP) group within BlackRock Alternative Investors. Based in London, he is responsible for performing due diligence and monitoring private equity investments in Europe. Mr. Lloyd earned a BA degree from Trinity College Dublin.

Mark Smallwood-“The Top 5 questions you must answer before seeking Private Equity Investment”.

Over the last two decades, Mark has helped many companies achieve high growth and has coached more than 800 leaders to fulfil their full potential. This has also included developing ‘go to market’ strategies, growing customer numbers and helping his clients become more attractive to external investors. He will be sharing his insights with us.