Specialist asset manager Gresham House has invested £165 million in broadband provider Borderlink to boost its broadband expansion in Scotland and the North of England.
This follows Gresham House's £10.5 million investment in Borderlink in April as part of its 'UK Strategic Investment Fund', which Borderlink says will connect up to 500,000 homes in these areas to gigabit speeds over the next three years. Borderlink says the funding will connect up to 500,000 homes in these areas to Gigabit speeds over the next three years.
There are plans to recruit 100 staff on top of the 70 recruited since April and to open new offices in Berwick-upon-Tweed and Edinburgh. "This investment enables us to bring GoFibre broadband to people who have been left behind by the larger networks, ensuring that people in rural areas and towns can get the best broadband speeds and live their digital lives to the full,".
We were impressed by Alex and the GoFibre team's ambition, teamwork and ability to deliver on their plans," said Gresham House's Managing Director of Sustainable Infrastructure. This is BSIF's largest investment in fibre infrastructure and is a testament to our confidence in the Borderlink initiative. I would like to thank John Seed for his tremendous contribution to the maturity of the company and we look forward to working with Chris and the team going forward."
In July, Borderlinks joined the trade body INCA (Independent Network Co-operative Association) along with Freedom Fibre, Giganet, Spring Fibre, Save9, Toob, F&W Networks and Cityfiber. The surge in membership is attributed to an increase in fibre deployments nationwide and serves as a sign of increased activity and investment interest in connecting the UK to gigabit speeds.
