COMMSWORLD Ltd entered its 30th year of business with a 45% rise in adjusted EBITDA as well as a 28% increase in turnover as it enjoyed a continued upsurge in business during 2023.
Total turnover increased from £27.9m to £36.5m. For the first time, more than 60% of that – £21m – was from public sector contracts. Meanwhile earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was £6.6m, up from £4.5m in 2022, while pre-tax profit rose from just under £3.3m to £4.6m.
It marked another hugely successful year for the Edinburgh-headquartered company, which saw it make history by becoming the first telecoms network provider to deliver connectivity to the inaugural 11-day 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships.
Over the course of 11 days, Commsworld providing the bandwidth necessary to facilitate global broadcast of a total of 13 world championship events in Glasgow and across Scotland, including Nevis Range, Glentress Forest, Stirling and Dumfries.
The company continued to make significant progress building the first phases of 262km of new fibre infrastructure for Northumberland County Council as part of its £22m contract over the next 20 years, transforming connectivity to nearly 150 council sites. The contract is already enabling 120,000 residential and businesses across the rural English county to access Fibre To The Premises (FTTP), many of whom have never enjoyed access to gigabit-capable fibre networks before.
Meanwhile in Renfrewshire, Commsworld has completed the migration and transformation of the council’s WAN as part of its £15m Connectivity as a Service Framework contract to upgrade the council’s digital connectivity and services.
It means Renfrewshire’s entire council estate – including 180 council buildings such as schools, local libraries and community centres as well as CCTV and traffic control systems – now has access to much wider and better bandwidth.
Steve Langmead, Chief Executive, said Commsworld Ltd now owned around 850km of fibre in total, including further new digital infrastructure provided in Glasgow, Edinburgh, North Lanarkshire, and the Scottish Borders.
Its fixed assets had also nearly doubled, from £9.6m in 2022 to over £17m last year.
He said: “Commsworld Ltd is in great health financially, with an order book that’s increasing year on year, representing our growth as a business throughout the whole of the UK. We are continuing to bring in large public sector opportunities that enable the business to continue to grow, mainly thanks to our dedicated workforce who day in day out deliver a world-class service to our customers.
“We recently secured a contract worth over £35m with Glasgow City Council – the biggest contract the company has ever secured in 30 years of business. Work is also well under way to radically transform the connectivity to 42 schools in and around Dundee, as part of a £2.6m over 10 years with Dundee City Council.
“We continue to be a huge business success story for Scotland, as these results show. Not only that, but our success is also measured in the completion of our contracts with the likes of Renfrewshire Council, which was delivered on time and within budget. While celebrating the past three decades of business, we are also looking to the future and the next 30 years.”
Founded in 1994, Commsworld is the operator of the largest privately-owned network in the UK, propelling it towards the top of the UK’s provider rankings. It now employs around 140 staff operating across public and private sector contracts and supports thousands of the UK’s leading organisations with their telecommunications. It has grown rapidly in recent years, fuelled by its delivery of ICT contracts involving UK local authorities such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, the Scottish Borders and Northumberland.
Commsworld manages and controls the largest privately-owned Optical Core Network in the UK. In June 2020, it completed the last rollout in its nationwide ultra-fast optical core network, in which it continues to invest. It means Commsworld is connected to all of the country’s Internet Exchanges, and linking up major cities like Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and London to its network.
