Full Fibre Rocks!

14th November 2025

Editor14th November 202517th November 2025Featuresbroadband, cover story, feature, full fibre, lightning fibre

Digital Britain: the broadband revolution. We chat with Rob Reaks, CCO of Lightning Fibre.

Tell us a little about you?

I have 30 years of experience in sales and marketing, beginning as Regional Marketing Manager for Sea Life attractions in Brighton, Portsmouth, Hastings, and Southend, and progressing to Chief Commercial Officer for an award-winning full fibre network operator and internet service provider. Between these roles, I spent 14 years as a professional fundraiser (10 years as CEO), helping UK and international charities and NGOs secure vital income through tele-fundraising, legacy campaigns, and direct dialogue fundraising — a practice that first emerged in the UK around 1995 (often ‘fondly’ referred to as chugging).

After successfully running an SME for a decade, I undertook an Executive MBA at Bayes Business School (formerly Cass Business School), graduating with distinction in 2012. Balancing an MBA with a full-time C-suite role was no small feat, but I’m proud to say I managed it.

I joined Lightning Fibre during its start-up phase, shortly after funding had been secured and with only a handful of customers. Since then, the business has grown into a thriving, community-focused company serving tens of thousands of happy customers and earning multiple industry awards — a testament to the dedication and talent of an exceptional team.

What has been your biggest business challenge to date?

The 2008 global financial crash hit fundraising hard (it hit everything and everyone hard!) and the uncertainty made the operational side of things quite tough. More recently, of course, COVID presented a unique set of challenges that we had to navigate; recruiting staff became tough, the availability of plastic was a problem (we use quite a lot of plastic ducting), costs increased significantly and people got sick.

What has been your greatest or proudest business achievement to date?

I am always very proud when our peers recognise us with awards. It’s a great trust-signal for consumers, and important recognition for hard working employees; we really do feel a collective sense of purpose and achievement. So, the Internet Service Providers’ Association award wins in 2023 and 2024 for ‘Best consumer ISP’ stand out. And we’re finalists for that award in 2025. I was also invited to Number 10 Downing Street by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2023 to represent Local Business Champions, which was a proud, personal ‘pinch me’ moment.

What type of clients do you currently work with and who are you looking to meet?

Lightning Fibre has two commercial elements to it. We are a regional residential and business full fibre network operator and internet service provider (ISP); and, through City Fibre and Netomnia, a national business broadband ISP. So, we’re very much focussed on attracting new business customers and Managed IT Service Partners who wish to act as trusted resellers for our services.

Tell us a story/fact about yourself that people might not know?

I am lucky enough to live in central Brighton where we have two lovely K6 phone boxes. They were bought from BT when they sold off redundant kiosks, but the owners did not maintain them. So, I bought them in 2022 and fully restored them (and remove tags, stickers and graffiti almost daily). Tourists LOVE them.

How do you define Success?

I once equated success with relentless hard work, but experience taught me that true success lies in balance. It’s about surrounding yourself with a great team, building meaningful professional relationships, and feeling fulfilled rather than exhausted.

Digital Britain; the Broadband Revolution

The UK is moving from older copper-based broadband towards “full-fibre” (fibre-to-the-premises) networks, which offer much higher speeds and reliability.

The regulator Ofcom set out a regulatory framework aimed at both encouraging investment and enabling competition.

The full-fibre roll-out is being driven largely by private investment. In more rural or hard-to-reach areas where purely commercial investment is less likely, there is public funding to fill the gap; this mixed model supports private funding plus public support where needed.

The involvement of private funding and regulatory clarity was critical for the scale and pace of the rollout.

“Four years ago, less than a quarter of UK homes and offices had access, and it now stands at nearly seven in 10. It means that people and businesses in nearly all corners of the country will get faster, better broadband, fuelling economic growth and enabling technologies like artificial intelligence to benefit everyone.” — Natalie Black, Ofcom Group Director for Networks and Communications.

Lightning Fibre – A Business Class Network & ISP

The business, founded in 2018 and headquartered in Eastbourne, has deployed millions of pounds of private investment to play its part in upgrading and future-proofing the UK’s broadband infrastructure from copper to full fibre, in parts of Sussex and Kent.

Operating as a vertically integrated network operator and Internet Service Provider (ISP), the company expanded its residential broadband reach in 2024 with a City Fibre wholesale agreement. More recently, that City Fibre partnership has been extended to include national business broadband services.

In November 2025 the company signed a similar deal with the UK’s second largest alternative network (AltNet) Netomnia.

“These wholesale agreements enable the company to provide extensive UK-wide full fibre business broadband coverage, combined with Lightning Fibre’s great value and award-winning customer service.” Rob Reaks, Chief Commercial Officer.

Business Broadband Services

Lightning Fibre provides high-performance, secure and reliable full fibre broadband technology, complemented by dedicated account management.

They support organisations of all sizes with their business broadband service, as well as second/resilience lines and dedicated ethernet solutions for private, high performance connections (subject to regional variations).

FTTP business broadband services deliver symmetric upload and download speeds of 150Mbps up to 2.5Gbps at attractive price points to suit all sizes of business.

Large businesses can access speeds of up to 10Gbps with a dedicated business ethernet service. Ideal for higher demand environments, with point-to-point and multi-site connectivity. Your business can really benefit from a high performance WAN solution with guaranteed bandwidth and low latency.

If you’d like to chat through your options for business broadband, contact Joe Brownell, Head of Business Partnerships, on 01323
380260 or business@lightningfibre.co.uk. See more on their website and follow on LinkedIn.

Partnering with UK-wide Managed IT Service Partners

Lightning Fibre strongly recommends that full fibre business broadband connectivity is provided as part of a fully serviced IT solution.

The team has evaluated and collaborated with a number of managed IT service partners and created trusted reseller agreements.

Some of their most well-established relationships are with M-Tech Systems, Southern IT and Newman Business Solutions.

We asked why they worked with Lightning Fibre.

M-Tech Systems

M-Tech Systems has clients across the UK – with a particular focus on Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Hampshire, Essex and London. Martin Lulham, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

“As a Trusted Managed Service Provider working closely with Lightning Fibre, we benefit from their high speed, full fibre infrastructure and a well-managed, stable network. Installations are handled efficiently, their engineers are excellent and support is consistently responsive – often quicker than the SLA requires.

What makes our partnership with Lightning Fibre stand out is the level of technical integration we’ve achieved. With a direct network handoff, we’re uniquely positioned to deliver enhanced resilience and flexibility to our clients – something that’s simply not available through regular broadband providers. We’d strongly recommend Lightning Fibre to any IT or technology provider seeking a connectivity partner that genuinely understands the demands of business-critical service delivery.”

Southern IT Networks

Southern IT is a specialist IT support company for businesses in the South East. Their Operations Manager, Andy King, added:

“We always advise our clients to use a Lightning Fibre connection because we know we can trust the speed and technical performance of the network, along with rapid response times if any questions arise.

Importantly, there is a direct line of communication with Joe Brownell at Lightning Fibre – and that genuine personal touch and high level of customer service is really rare in this industry.

Our collaboration means that we have gained greater flexibility – avoiding the delays and limitations of Openreach – which really impresses our clients, ranging from pubs and shopping centres to multi-tenant office buildings.

Our experience with Lightning Fibre has been overwhelmingly positive – it has transformed the way we deliver connectivity to our clients. We highly recommend them to other Managed IT Service Providers.”

Newman Business Solutions

Newman is a Business Systems Consultancy that utilises Lightning Fibre’s full fibre network as the base for their integrated workplace technologies implementations.

Harley Discala, Newman’s Business Development Lead & Area Sales Manager, added further praise:

“We have a great relationship with Lightning Fibre as a reseller of their FTTP broadband connection to our business clients – from 300Mb to dedicated leased lines. They are much faster with organising installation dates than other providers and quick to respond to any support.

We have been particularly impressed with their commitment to problem solving and putting forward clever solutions.

With competitive prices, which reduce our costs, and their willingness to be flexible, we’d highly recommend working with the friendly and highly professional team at Lightning Fibre.”

Why Full Fibre Matters – Championed by Government & Chambers

Decades ago the internet was a place we visited, now its an environment we all inhabit. Lightning Fibre is dedicated to playing a significant role in the broadband revolution in the UK.

A rock solid, hyperfast connection is essential for consumers, communities, business performance and public sector services functioning effectively.

Josh Babarinde MP is a well known supporter of Lightning Fibre, recognising their commitment to delivering high performance full fibre infrastructure.

His endorsement reflects trust in the company’s ability to enable digital transformation and support innovation and growth across the business landscape.

“I’m committed to being the vocal and visible champion our town needs and deserves. Decent broadband is essential for our modern demands; at work, school and at home.

I am particularly impressed by Lightning Fibre’s early adoption of a ‘social tariff’, helping people on means-tested benefits access this brand new technology. It’s commendable that Lightning Fibre is leading the way locally for affordable Full Fibre access.

The company has already achieved huge respect for the amount of community support it gives, and I am delighted to support them in marking another local milestone with the launch of Full Fibre for Hampden Park.”

– Josh Babarinde MP for Eastbourne, President of the Liberal Democrats

Nus Ghani MP for Sussex Weald & Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons also speaks highly of Lightning Fibre.

“Reliable internet access is an absolute necessity for households, schools and businesses in Wealden. Poor broadband is one of the top frustrations for local residents and I am constantly campaigning for improvements to the provision and reliability of internet across Wealden.

I was pleased to learn all about the exciting new phase of the full fibre roll out for Hailsham, and I’m pleased that local companies like Lightning Fibre are helping to build the new infrastructure needed, accelerating growth and jobs, and improving the quality of life for thousands of people in Hailsham and across Wealden and East Sussex.

Lightning Fibre is a key supporter of our local communities and I’m pleased that they are not only improving connectivity for thousands of people, but they are also involved in supporting many key local events like the Hailsham Festival.”

The First Business Broadband Connection

Lightning Fibre began as a full fibre network operator and ISP in Eastbourne, East Sussex. It has expanded beyond residential broadband to also provide a national business broadband service.

Christina Ewbank, Chief Executive, Eastbourne Chamber of Commerce, Edeal Enterprise Agency and Eastbourne BID has experienced the Lightning Fibre service and worked closely with the team.

“We were one of the original Lightning Fibre commercial installations. We desperately needed reliable, fast broadband for the seven organisations in our office building – particularly to enable everyone to run online meetings at the same time.

We have a 1Gbps line and all the businesses now have absolutely crystal clear pictures and sound, and can transfer files quickly.

The most impressive thing about Lightning Fibre is the service and how lovely the team is. They work brilliantly with our IT partner now too.

Lightning Fibre was the only organisation that could help with full fibre to our premises. And I have made sure they supply my home too!”

National Industry Awards and Local Community Commitment

Multi Award-Winning ISP

Lightning Fibre is recognised by the industry as one of the best ISP’s in the country.

Its latest accolade is the impressive Broadband Provider of the Year award at the Connected Britain Awards in September 2025.

This award recognizes outstanding performance and innovation in the UK’s broadband and digital ecosystem, as well as providing excellent connectivity, putting customers first and supporting local communities.

There were a huge number of entries and a large panel of judges, which included key figures from various leading analyst firms, consultants, network operators, universities and other industry organisations.

CCO, Rob Reaks, commented that “Such awards are not easy to win. I am very proud of everyone at Lightning Fibre for helping us win this coveted award; it’s great to be recognised again by our industry peers. This award reflects consistent hard work across the whole company and an authentic commitment to putting the customer first.”

Over the years Lightning Fibre has certainly punched above its weight as a Sussex-based network operator and ISP, winning many other respected UK-wide industry awards.

• UK Fibre Awards 2025: Take-Up Champion

• UK Fibre Awards 2025: Sales/Commercial Team of the Year

• ISPA Awards 2024: Best Consumer ISP (under 100k customers)

• ISPA Awards 2023: Best Consumer ISP (under 50k customers)

At the time of SBT going to print in November 2025, the Lightning Fibre team will be in London for a ceremony where, as finalists, they will find out if they are winners of two further awards:

• ISPA Awards 2025: Best Consumer ISP (under 100k customers)

• ISPA Awards 2025: Best Customer Experience

Community Commitment

Lightning Fibre has always been a community-minded organisation – fully integrating itself in the areas where it has built network in Sussex and Kent.

They have provided significant ongoing sponsorship for local family activities, charities and sports clubs, volunteered for beach cleans and attend and support many Chambers of Commerce events and tech conferences.

The company has definitely gone the extra mile with its support. One notable example being the team’s efforts as part of its headline sponsorship of the Heathfield Show – one of the South East’s premier agricultural festivals.

Lightning Fibre engineers installed 4km of fibre across the fields, by picking up off their network for local homes and businesses, to provide free WiFi to visitors, exhibitors and showground events.

The team then worked tirelessly behind the scenes to monitor and maintain the connection, ensuring everything ran smoothly with nearly 1000 devices connected simultaneously at peak times!