London Full Fibre Broadband Provider G.Network Moves Forward “Debt-Free”
Alternative UK network operator G.Network, which built a full fibre (FTTP) broadband network across parts of London and recently went into administration after being acquired by distressed debt specialist FitzWalter Capital (here and here), today say it’s “successfully reorganised through administration“. The company said they’re now moving forward on a “debt-free, well-capitalised, growth-oriented footing“.
Just to recap. G.Network, which originally aspired to expand their FTTP lines to cover 1.3 million premises in London by the end of 2026, ultimately ended up being impacted by an increasingly competitive environment and rising costs (high build costs, high interest rates etc.); this resulted in job cuts and a greater focus on commercialisation instead of new fibre build (here), which is a not unfamiliar direction for the UK’s many altnets.
However, their efforts to commercialise the existing network did continue to face some pressure from gigabit-capable rivals in many of the same areas, including the likes of Hyperoptic, CommunityFibre, Virgin Media (nexfibre) and Openreach (BT). But despite that the operator had continued to receive funding from long term equity investor Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), including £85m in June 2024 (here).
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The company’s most recent accounts reported an 85% increase in turnover to £10.2m in FY2024 and a gross profit of £7.3m (up 62%), with total assets of £453m (up from £394m). But they also suffered an operating loss for the year of £52.8m (down from £67.2m) and were estimated (Enders Analysis) to be carrying a net debt of over £300m.
The issues all seemed to come to somewhat of a head at the start of this year, when G.Network ended up being acquired by FitzWalter Capital (FWC) and was then promptly placed into administration, which highlighted how the operator’s “capital structure has become unsustainable“.
At the time Richard Beard, Joint Administrator and MD of Alvarez and Marsal, told ISPreview: “Our appointment as administrators provides a platform for a restructuring, and we will work closely with the management team to create a sustainable business.”
The latest update
The latest update, which was issued this morning, states that G.network has now been “successfully reorganised through administration, and moves forward on a debt-free, well-capitalised, growth-oriented footing“. In addition, David Sangster, the original co-founder of G.Network, is said to be “returning to the business” as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
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David Sangster said:
“G.Network has always had an outstanding network at its core, and a dedicated team, many of whom have contributed to the creation of the business. G.Network continued to grow during its short period of administration, and now that period is over, we can build on those foundations. We are looking forward to bringing our unrivalled asset and outstanding service to our partners and customers in London.”
Andrew Gray, Partner at FitzWalter Capital, said:
“G.Network enters this next chapter debt-free and well capitalised, with a team that has delivered strong operational performance. We look forward to partnering with David and the entire G.Network team to accelerate the commercialisation of the network and establish G.Network as a leading challenger in UK fibre.”
Readers can find a full statement of affairs from the administrator on Companies House, although suffice to say that the restructured business will naturally now be a lot more attractive as a consolidation target. Such an outcome would no doubt suit FWC, which probably prefers to be more of a short-term holder of the business.
In addition, the statement of affairs notes that G.Network had 230 employees at the date of the administrator’s appointment, but unsurprisingly some 106 employees have since been made redundant (124 employees were retained). One downside of the restructuring process is of course that some of the company’s creditors/suppliers will have lost money.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Well wiping all debts away will make it more attractive to potential acquirers!
This is great news for G.Network. But they should partner with a specialist provider to expand into cloud, cybersecurity, and managed IT services – areas with significantly stronger margins. Competitors like Vorboss are already moving in this direction. Fibre connectivity is becoming increasingly commoditised, driving prices down. To protect and grow profitability, G.Network needs to diversify its offering and capture value beyond core connectivity.
So the guy who made all those decisions (own build ducts in the middle of central London roads) in the first place is the knight in shining armour to fix them all??
With him in charge this will be sold on at a loss again within 12 months. I hope those lucky few retained by the business keep their CVs updated…
LOL. You think the openreach madmen that came in didn’t add a huge amount of debt? I assume you work or know about the alt net space? You will then know how crap the PIA is in London. Also at the time there was a focus on RFS so if you build you are going to get debt. All telco/ISP have debit. Times have changes and now it’s making sure you can pivot to customer uptake. This company will be sold again for sure but it will also grow and make more money without any debt ! Watch other alt nets go through this and the ones who use just PIA won’t come out as positive as this !
So the person that racked up all the debt and put the company in this position has come back to save it?
Where are all the Altnet naysayers, BT employees and other multi-gigabit deniers? As I have said many times even of Altnets go into Administration the assets will remain and the network will just reappear as a different company.
I’m none of those but I’m wondering what you’re talking about.
Investors including the Universities Superannuation Scheme probably lost money.
The lenders certainly lost money: it’ll make them far less likely to invest in the sector.
G.Network are asset-heavy, all their own ducts. Most altnets are not, their networks live 90%+ in Openreach plant.
Still trying to get my head around how an altnet running out of money, being acquired by a distressed debt specialist, placed into administration with the loss of close to half the staff alongside creditors and a pension fund investor being burned, and then acquired out of administration by that same distressed debt specialist, almost certainly looking to flip it again quickly, is something to gloat over.
G.Network never offered multigig by the way. Their products top out at gigabit sold over GPON.
The biggest Altnet naysayers these days will possibly be those who lent them the money.
G Networks biggest problem was the huge mileage of ducts they built that were never fibered!
It was crackers how many times we worked near GN branded lids and pots and asked if we could get a connection – always a no.
So there was a lot of cost to create assets on the balance sheet that could never produce income – that needs to be fixed. Although I suspect they will just try and monetise their existing fibre.
However, that will now be much harder as they can’t do multi gig without network upgrades.
Well that’s just wrong. XGS PON can deliver what ever gb you want. The CPE needs addressing but the network is fine.