O2 Daisy, created by the merger of Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) Business and Daisy Group, has started operations, promising to “make every business better” and “shake up” business-to-business (B2B) telecoms.
The new company is claimed to be, form its outset, the UK’s second largest small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) solutions provider, and is seen as being able redefine the communications and IT experience for customers and support British businesses of all sizes.
Founded by Matthew Riley in 2001, Daisy Group worked as an independent, specialist communications businesses delivering a range of cloud, communications and IT services to companies across the UK. The business expanded organically and through a series of acquisitions over the past two decades.
The merger was structured through the contribution of an approximately £425m secured intercompany loan by VMO2 and approximately £835m of debt by Daisy Group. The new entity is calculated to have annual pro forma revenues of around £1.4bn and is consolidated by VMO2 with a 70% holding, with Daisy Group making up the remaining 30%.
The business has bases across the country – including hubs in Nelson, Sheffield, Manchester, London, Reading and Bournemouth – and VMO2 and Daisy Group are confident O2 Daisy will have greater scale, expertise and focus as a combined entity, benefitting from VMO2’s fibre and mobile infrastructure, combined with Daisy’s end-to-end IT and sales management platforms and customer service.
As a dedicated company serving businesses from small office home office (SOHO) to large enterprise and public sector organisations, O2 Daisy will offer digital-first connectivity and managed service systems under one roof. It will look to serve the communications and IT needs of hundreds of thousands of UK businesses from small offices, SMEs, large enterprises, and public sector organisations, as well as indirect partners.
Digital-first connectivity offerings and managed services for new and existing customers will include cloud-based communications tools, 5G private networks, internet of things (IoT) connectivity, security services and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered products such as O2 Motion. VMO2’s fixed and mobile wholesale operations, which include smart metering and connectivity to mobile virtual network operator customers, will remain fully owned at VMO2.
The company is supported by fixed and mobile connectivity wholesale agreements with VMO2, and supplier arrangements with Telefónica and Liberty Global to offer high-growth products and services from across the portfolio of those wider shareholder groups.
O2 Daisy is led and chaired by Daisy founder Riley, and Jo Bertram, managing director of Virgin Media O2 Business, as CEO. The newly formed executive leadership team has been drawn from both organisations and includes chief financial officer Paul Milton; Dave McGinn, CEO, small and medium enterprise; Jo Watts, chief operating officer of large enterprise and public sector; chief technology and information officer Paul Edwards; chief strategy and transformation officer Lizz Poltawski; chief people officer Alison Bawn; and general counsel Nigel Smith.
Commenting on the launch of the company, Bertram said: “We start on our mission to shake up the market and provide the technology needed to make every business better. With the launch of our new standalone company, we’re putting our focus on what really matters – helping businesses of all sizes connect and grow. By bringing together two experienced teams and supercharging them with scaled networks, agile systems and comprehensive products, we’re ready to deliver exceptional outcomes for our customers.”
Riley added: “In a fast-changing world, growth is inextricably linked to the ability to access world-class IT and communications infrastructure. Driven by the entrepreneurial spirit we’re known for, O2 Daisy will revolutionise the telecommunications and IT landscape, by creating connectivity offerings fit for UK businesses of all sizes – underpinning their own growth stories.”
At the outset, both businesses will operate under their separate brands from their current office bases. The new entity will continue to serve customers under their existing brands during the integration phase, with further brand and operational updates expected in the coming months.
