Adam Beaumont

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Professor Adam Beaumont DL (born August 1972) is a businessman, angel investor, trustee and digital entrepreneur. He is the CEO of telecommunications provider aql, a visiting professor of cyber security at the University of Leeds and the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Estonia to the Northern Powerhouse and the Isle of Man.

Adam Beaumont
BornAugust 1972
Stockport, Greater Manchester, England
NationalityBritish
Alma materUniversity of Leeds
Occupation(s)Founder and CEO of aql
CEO of BlueWave Communications
Founder of NorthInvest
Years active1998–present
TitleProfessor
PartnerNot Known

Early life and education[edit]

Beaumont was state educated. He was born in Stockport, England.[1]

He has a PhD in Physical Chemistry and a BSc in Colour and Polymer Chemistry from the University of Leeds.[1]

Career[edit]

After completing his PhD, Beaumont began his career at age 24 with a three-year stint as the University of Leeds' youngest lecturer in physical chemistry, including quantum mechanics and thermodynamics.[1][2]

He then spent some time in secure mobile communications for the Defence Evaluation Research Agency (DERA), an agency of the Ministry of Defence. Beaumont was involved in building the agency's first cyber teams.[3]

Beaumont founded telecommunications platform company aql in 1998, and is the company's CEO.[4]

In 2008, he purchased the Salem Chapel, a 1791 Grade II listed building in the heart of Leeds.[5][6] Over several years, he restored the building and turned it into the main data hub in the North. The restored chapel houses aql's head office, and has hosted the launch of government initiatives, including the Northern Powerhouse concept and the first Northern Powerhouse Partnership report.[7][8][9]

He is a founder and board member of IXLeeds, the UK’s first and only fully independent internet exchange outside London.[10] He has also founded ManxIX, the first and only internet exchange on the Isle of Man[11] and is the operator of the islands SpaceX Starlink ground station.[12]

In 2015, Beaumont founded not-for-profit investment platform NorthInvest.[13] As an angel investor, he invests between £20,000 and £400,000 in early-stage tech companies, such as CBiS Education, Deekit, ID Health, Memento VR, Gravity Industries,[3] handi[14] jet-drone company hydra[15] artificial diamond innovator Dyman[16] and satellite startup kappazeta.[17] Northinvest raised over £2m for startups in Q1 2020[18] and over £22m across that year.[19] Northinvest is also a notable driver of diversity and equality in entrepreneurism.[20]

After aql bought Isle of Man-based communications provider BlueWave Communications in 2015, Beaumont became the company's CEO.[21] Bluewave was the first 5G operator on the Isle of Man.[22]

Beaumont is active overseas, leading the founding delegation to create UK:Estonia TechLink.[23] More recently he led a delegation of northern business leaders on an April 2017 trade mission to San Francisco as part of the government's Northern Powerhouse initiative.[24]

In January 2018, he helped launch Transport for the North's Strategic Transport Plan to transform transportation in the North of England over the next 30 years.[25][26]

Honours and other endeavours[edit]

Beaumont was appointed a visiting professor of cyber security at the University of Leeds in October 2017.[27] He is also a governor of Leeds City College.[28] He is a patron of Leeds Community Foundation[29] and the major supporter of Child friendly Leeds[30]

In June 2017, Beaumont was appointed as a Trustee of the Eden Project.[31] He was also a Non Executive Director of the Eden Project International Board, the team responsible for initiating Eden projects in China, Ireland, Dubai, US.[32] Latterly he became a notable donor to Eden.[33] He was a key driver of Eden Project North[34] until his resignation as a Trustee, alleging a lack of confidence in members of the Eden Executive and Trustee team.[35]

Beaumont was named International Director of the Year 2017 for Yorkshire and the North East by the Institute of Directors.[23] He was named Director of the Year for Innovation in 2018.[36] He was named International Director of the Year in 2019.[37] He was named as a Maserati 100 Entrepreneur in 2019.[38]

He was appointed to the board of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) in 2017.[39]

He was named Honorary Consul of the Republic of Estonia to the Northern Powerhouse and the Isle of Man in April 2018.[40] He is also the owner of Porkuni Manor managed by Porkuni Mois OÜ

Beaumont joined the UK5G Advisory Board in March 2018.[41] His mobile network BlueWave received permissions to operate 5G in the Isle of Man[42]

A regular keynote speaker on topics including cyber security and mobile security, Beaumont delivered the opening address at the Huddersfield leg of the Duke of York's prestigious Pitch@Palace entrepreneurship competition in February 2018.[43] In April, he gave two talks at CYBERUK 2018, the National Cyber Security Centre's (NCSC) annual flagship conference.[44] In 2022, he addressed the Global Air and Space Chiefs Conference.[45]

He is part of Leeds City Region's team that successfully bid on a place on Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) two-year Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme (REAP).[46] Beaumont and the team[47] are now alumni of the programme.

In 2018 he created funded the "Beaumont Awards" - an award for outstanding final year research which has the potential to positively impact society, the winners each receiving a medal inspired by the achievements in research-led public education by Michael Faraday.[48]

He was made a Deputy Lieutenant of the West Yorkshire Lieutenancy in 2023.[49] He is also an Honorary Group Captain in the RAF serving as a Royal Auxiliary in the City of London 601 Squadron.[50]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Profile: Adam Beaumont". www.yorkshirepost.co.uk. 8 January 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  2. ^ "Four Admitted as Freemen Entrepreneurs – Guild of Entrepreneurs". guildofentrepreneurs.org. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  3. ^ a b Evans, Peter (12 November 2017). "Q&A with angel investor Adam Beaumont". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  4. ^ "AQL expands data centre campus with ex-council building". www.yorkshirepost.co.uk. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  5. ^ "Where did it all start for Leeds United?". Time Out Leeds. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  6. ^ "Dotcom survivor to put university in your pocket". www.yorkshirepost.co.uk. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  7. ^ "rebuildingsociety MD Daniel Rajkumar joined the Institute of Directors to hear the PM set out his long term economic plans for Yorkshire". rebuildingsociety.com. 6 February 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Let's stop the brain-drain from the North and claim the ultimate prize, says George Osborne's new think-tank". www.yorkshirepost.co.uk. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  9. ^ "George Osborne launches first Northern Powerhouse Partnership report at aql's Leeds HQ". Bdaily Business News. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  10. ^ "Adam Beaumont: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  11. ^ "ManxIX | The Isle of Man's first and only Internet Exchange". manxix.im. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  12. ^ Shead, Sam (9 August 2021). "Why Elon Musk's Starlink has set up a satellite base on a tiny island in the Irish Sea". CNBC. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  13. ^ "aql Chief Exec announces launch of "NorthInvest" - UK Business Angels Association (UKBAA)". UK Business Angels Association (UKBAA). 27 July 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  14. ^ "Angel investors fast-track start-up growth amid virus crisis | TheBusinessDesk.com". Yorkshire. 19 May 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  15. ^ Media, Insider. "NorthInvest backing for trio of start-ups". Insider Media Ltd. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  16. ^ "LS7 Technology Seed Fund". www.ls7.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  17. ^ Sapiton, Mykhailo (5 September 2023). "Estonian space startup KappaZeta leaps forward with additional funding". Invest in Estonia. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  18. ^ Cuthbert, Dominic (27 May 2020). "Q1 sees NorthInvest raise over £2m for Northern start-ups". Business Link Magazine. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  19. ^ NorthInvest (21 March 2023). "NorthInvest 2022 Annual Report". NorthInvest. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  20. ^ "Supporting Female Founders". NorthInvest. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  21. ^ "Firm owned by Apprentice star Baggs bought by Leeds company". Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  22. ^ "First 5G for the Isle of Man". Isle of Man. 13 April 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  23. ^ a b "Adam Beaumont named as International Director of the Year - Business Link Magazine". Business Link Magazine. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  24. ^ "Leeds tech leader Adam Beaumont heads San Francisco trade mission from the North". Yorkshire. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  25. ^ "Thirty-year infrastructure plan launched to transform transport in the North". Bdaily Business News. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  26. ^ "VIDEO: Bradford set to get station on high speed Northern Powerhouse Rail line". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  27. ^ Richardson-Smith, Josephine. "School of Computing welcomes Visiting Professor". engineering.leeds.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  28. ^ "Governors - Leeds City College". Leeds City College. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  29. ^ "Meet The 100 Club". Leeds Community Foundation. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  30. ^ "Shortlist revealed for the 2020 Child Friendly Leeds Awards". Shortlist revealed for the 2020 Child Friendly Leeds Awards. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  31. ^ "Professor Adam Beaumont, Eden Trustee". www.edenproject.com. Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  32. ^ "Professor Adam Beaumont". Eden Project. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  33. ^ Eden Project. "Eden Annual Review" (PDF).
  34. ^ "South Lakes Eden boost". The Westmorland Gazette. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  35. ^ Macdonald, Robert (8 March 2024). "Trustee blasts 'broken' Eden Project Morecambe in barbed LinkedIn post". Lancs Live. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  36. ^ "Lady Ruby Sykes honoured at Director of the Year awards". Bdaily Business News. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  37. ^ "Shortlist revealed for IoD Director of the Year Awards | Institute of Directors | IoD". www.iod.com. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  38. ^ "2019 Maserati 100 - Adam Beaumont | Maserati UK". www.maserati.com. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  39. ^ "Cultural, environmental and digital experts join Leeds LEP". www.yorkshirepost.co.uk. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  40. ^ ERR (19 April 2018). "Estonia opens honorary consul office in Leeds". ERR. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  41. ^ KTN. "UK5G Launched". KTN. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  42. ^ Langan-Newton, Shelley. "BlueWave Acquires Old BBC Transmitter Site – BlueWave". Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  43. ^ "Duke of York Pitch@Palace entrepreneurs mass in Huddersfield - University of Huddersfield". www.hud.ac.uk. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  44. ^ "CYBERUK 2018 Leadership Agenda" (PDF).
  45. ^ "The Chief of the Air Staff's Global Air & Space Chiefs' Conference 2022". The Air & Space Power Association. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  46. ^ "LEP - MIT REAP programme". 10 May 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  47. ^ "Leeds City, United Kingdom". MIT REAP. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  48. ^ Cruise, Richard. "The Beaumont Award winners 2018 & 2019". students.leeds.ac.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  49. ^ "West Yorkshire Lieutenancy | Deputy Lieutenant Commissions | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  50. ^ "Professor Adam Beaumont DL - West Yorkshire Lieutenancy". www.westyorkshirelieutenancy.org.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
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