Twenty-five years ago, Orbital Internet Group’s CEO, Darren Brown, started the business in Ashford, Kent, with a “scraped-together" fund of £1500. Two and a half decades later, Brown is handing the reins over to Ben Doherty who will be taking over as CEO.
The change offers an opportunity to reflect on what has gone before, and to think about the future.
When the company started out Orbital was building PCs for companies in Kent and setting up their local networks. “It was the early days of the internet,” Darren reminisces. “But I realised very soon that the internet was going to be big and was something that we needed to get into.”
Back then most people connected to the internet by dialling into their internet service provider (ISP) via a modem and a phone line. The ISP in turn would provide connectivity through a leased line. But a 64KB leased line cost in the region of £15,000 to £20,000 per year, which was prohibitively expensive, so Darren found a simple solution—thanks to British Telecom!
“I was in Tesco’s one day, and I saw they had this telephone on the wall,” “There was no dial, just a receiver. And you would pick it up and it would connect you directly to a taxi service. I did some research and found that BT offered this fixed-line service at £109 a year. That got me thinking, so I found someone who already had a leased line and was willing to share it with me, and by putting a modem and phone line into their building, I could provide internet access at a fraction of the cost.”
As the internet grew, so did Orbital, and they eventually had enough customers to pay for their own leased line. But once again, Darren had to use his engineering acuity to solve a connectivity problem.
“We grew too big for our premises, and I had the opportunity to sublet an entire upstairs floor from my Uncle. It was just 300 metres up the road, but the cost of moving the leased line was so much I couldn’t afford to do it. So, I investigated ways of getting the signal from one point to the next, and I found a company called BreezeCOM in the USA that manufactured wireless point-to-point networking equipment. It was really early-days stuff, and I had to get permission from Ofcom to test it out.”
Darren found that the equipment worked surprisingly well, providing up to 2MB over short distances. “Everybody else was stuck on dial-up. Why don’t we point some of these at businesses in the area, to give them a faster connection?” he remembers thinking. This was the basis for the technology that came to be known as WiMAX, which has improved over the years and has been a boon for companies needing broadband in areas still awaiting fibre connectivity. Initially the range was about 800 metres, but by putting a transmitter on top of International House in Ashford, they were able to extend the range to approximately four kilometres.
“Strangely, most of our initial customers were in Scotland and the Isle of Skye,” Darren notes. “I think it was because we used to advertise in two magazines, .net and Internet Works, and maybe those were the only two magazines available on the Isle of Skye!” “But seriously speaking, a lot of it was recommendation, because even though your neighbour lives 20 miles away, you know them. So, we did loads of farms and guesthouses up there, even though we were from the exact opposite end of the UK.”
Today the technology is vastly superior, and Orbital erects masts in strategic positions to service larger areas. It has successfully provided broadband internet access to underserved areas, covering most of Kent and other locations in the UK, as well as specialised services like Wi-Fi in holiday parks, through the Orbital Group subsidiary, Vfast Parks across the United Kingdom.
A lot people might ask why now, how does a CEO who built and grew a business know when the time is right for them to move on. Having asked this question directly to Darren, his answer was one of a huge amount of thought and consideration. Rebecca Brown, married to Darren, was responsible for the inception of Vfast Internet which is the residential arm of the business. Rebecca also stepped down at a similar time to Darren from the position of Managing Director of Vfast Internet. Darren explained that building a business like Orbital Net, requires a huge amount of personal sacrifice and he feels lucky that he and Rebecca acted as a driving force for each other. "As many other CEO's/founders will understand, clocking off at 5pm just isn't possible when you are growing a thriving business from the ground up, so you do miss things like holidays, school plays and friends parties". Although Darren says he doesn't regret his decisions, as ultimately it meant he has been able to secure a future for his family, he does feel like the time has to come for him to make up for lost time. Since stepping away from his role, Darren has started travelling again for the first time in 20+ years with his family and enjoying demanding personal projects (he'll never be one to slow down, just change course!).
As technology has changed, such as more fibre being rolled out countrywide, the company has been quick to move with the times. “We are always on the lookout for changes and ways to improve our offering,” says Ben Doherty, who takes over from Darren Brown as Group CEO. “I am unashamedly a tech-head,” he adds, “I was part of the development of WiMAX back in the day—I've spent many hours up in towers and down in server rooms. So, whether it’s WiMAX, fibre, leased lines or anything else, I want to ensure we are providing the best possible solution for our customers.”
Ben has been the de facto second-in-command at Orbital for many years, and he is well known among customers and partners. “Ben knows this company inside and out,” says Darren, adding that the transition has been smooth, and it is “business as usual” for one of the UK’s best-loved independent ISPs. When asked how we knew that Ben was the best man for the job he says "Ben has learnt the way that i have done things over the years, but he also remains his own person. We haven't always agreed which is a good thing as he has always been there as the challenger." He adds "he has already demonstrated his ability as CEO and grabbed the role with both hands, i have seen the change in him and the positive impact he's already made."
Final words from Darren? “I would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers, partners, and employees for their continued support and commitment to Orbital Group. We look forward to the future with excitement and optimism, and we remain committed to providing the best possible telecommunications services to our customers.”
For Darren, building relationships has been an important part of ensuring business success. Orbital recognises the massive contribution he has made, he will be hugely missed and the team wishes him well in the next stage of his life. Thank you for being a great leader, and bon voyage, Darren Brown!