- Matthew Riley
-
Not to be confused with Matthew Reilly.
Matthew Riley Born 15 February 1974
Burnley, LancashireOccupation CEO Daisy Group plc Matthew Riley is a British entrepreneur and the founder and chief executive officer of Daisy Group plc, the AIM listed organisation that provides unified communications to businesses in the UK.
In 2011 Alan Sugar enlisted the help of Riley to assist him in deciding the winner in the BBC TV series The Apprentice. The 37-year-old was one of four people tasked with interviewing the final four candidates.
Riley is notable for his success as an entrepreneur,[1] named Ernst and Young’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2007 and more famously his success in the Bank of Scotland [1] Corporate Entrepreneur Challenge where he was awarded £5m in interest free funding and mentoring from Sir Philip Green.[2]
Contents
Early life and career
Born in Burnley, Lancashire, in 1974, he attended Ss John Fisher and Thomas More High School, Colne.
Leaving school at 16 years of age, Riley joined Burnley-based office equipment firm FH Brown and began a career as a technician, undertaking a YTS apprenticeship. On successful completion of his YTS Riley moved into a sales role within the firm, where he stayed until 1997, before joining German-based communications firm DeTeWe.
Riley set up his first company in 1999, a consultancy company specialising in all aspects of communications supply. He quickly built a client list including Virgin Cinemas, Woolworths and CWS Travelcare. This company was sold 18 months after establishment and Riley went on to build and sell two further successful limited companies connected with the communications sector. These included a recruitment firm and a specialist cabling company.
Daisy Group plc (Daisy Group)
With a vision for providing an alternative service provider to BT, Riley established Daisy Communications, his fourth company, in 2001.
Based in his hometown of Nelson, Lancashire, Daisy was created to provide communications services to small and medium sized businesses.
Having recognised a gap in the market for independent fixed telephone line service providers selling communication services to small to medium enterprises in the UK, it was envisaged that Daisy would be a service provider that focussed on delivering high quality to its customers, offering a one-stop-shop for telecommunications offering Voice, Data, Mobile and Systems, allowing customers to deal with a single supplier for all their communications.
As a private company Daisy Communications grew rapidly. Daisy was named the fastest growing technology company in the UK (Sunday Times Tech Track 2005).[3] and has been repeatedly placed in Deloitte’s Fast50.
In July 2009 the business floated on AIM following the reverse takeover (under AIM rules) of Freedom4 Group plc. The newly combined organisation was named Daisy Group plc and through the reversal £83m was raised.[4]
The majority shareholder, Riley became CEO of the Daisy Group.
The Group has a proven buy and build strategy and has completed a significant number of acquisitions, both prior to and post flotation, as Riley looks to consolidate what is deemed to be a fragmented telecoms reseller market. To date the company has completed 35 acquisitions. Daisy currently has 75,000 business customers and employs 1,300 at offices throughout the UK.
The Apprentice
In the 2011 series of The Apprentice,[5] Riley was one of four guest interviewers to be enlisted, tasked with interviewing the 2011 contestants and advising Lord Sugar on who to fire.
This year the format for the show changed with four finalists instead of the usual two, with Alan Sugar choosing the winner in a gruelling interview round. This year’s series has seen contestants fighting it out to win a £250,000 prize fund that will be invested in their business, with the winner sharing a 50/50 stake in the company with mentor and backer Alan Sugar. The other interviewers were Sugar's former sidekick Margaret Mountford, business troubleshooter, Claude Littner and magazine boss Mike Soutar.
Sir Philip Green mentoring
After winning £5million interest free funding for his company through the Bank of Scotland Corporate Entrepreneur Challenge, Matthew was also awarded a high profile mentorship with Arcadia and BHS boss Sir Philip Green.
Since being awarded the accolade Sir Philip has provided business advice for both Riley and his business.[6]
Footnotes
- ^ Prosser, David (2010-12-09). "The Business On: Matthew Riley, CEO, Daisy Communications". London: The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/the-business-on-matthew-riley-ceo-daisy-communications-2154835.html. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
- ^ "That Sir Philip Green, I love his no-nonsense ways". The London Evening Standard. 2010-10-15. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-business/article-23888236-city-spy-the-flaw-at-heart-of-film-on-capitalism.do. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
- ^ "2005 Tech Track 100". Fast Track, in association with the Sunday Times. 2005-09-24. http://www.fasttrack.co.uk/fasttrack/leagues/dbDetails.asp?siteID=3&compID=1486&yr=2005. Retrieved 2005-09-24.
- ^ Ashton, James (2009-06-28). "Phone firm heads for £200m float". London: The Sunday Times. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article6590988.ece. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
- ^ "Sugar: You're Fired..! Again". The Sun. 2011-07-05. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/3677316/Final-round-is-scrapped-from-Apprentice-where-axed-contestants-return-to-show.html. Retrieved 2011-07-05.
- ^ Stone, Andrew (2008-11-30). "Sir Philip Green’s mentoring has helped Daisy blossom". London: The Sunday Times. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/entrepreneur/article5257411.ece. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
References
Daisy aims to bloom, December 7, 2010, http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/business/s/1388339_daisy_aims_to_bloom_, retrieved December 7, 2010
Daisy Lifts Revenues, December 8, 2010, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f049c4fa-0227-11e0-aa40-00144feabdc0,s01=1.html, retrieved December 8, 2010
Riley’s Daisy telecoms group hopes to reach profitability within two years, December 8, 2010, http://www.cityam.com/news-and-analysis/riley%E2%80%99s-daisy-telecoms-group-hopes-reach-profitability-within-two-years, retrieved December 8, 2010
Sarah, Hanson (July, 2008), Matthew Riley, CEO, Daisy Communications, http://www.director.co.uk/MAGAZINE/2008/7%20July/dofm_61_12.html, retrieved July, 2008
Sarah, Bridge (September 14, 2008), "Need to know: Stick or twist?", The Times (London), http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/entrepreneur/article4748042.ece, retrieved September 14, 2008
Doug, Morrison (May 18, 2008), "Masterclass with UK’s top retailer, Sir Phillip Green", The Times (London), http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/entrepreneur/article3953279.ece, retrieved May 18, 2008
Sarah, Bridge (March 16, 2008), "Go on, impress them", The Times (London), http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/entrepreneur/article3552148.ece, retrieved May 16, 2008
James, Scoltock (November 4, 2007), "Discounts telecoms start-up on the map", The Times (London), http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/entrepreneur/article2799494.ece, retrieved November 4, 2007
Rachel, Bridge (November 18, 2007), "Bank prize helps Daisy to flower", The Times (London), http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/entrepreneur/article2889504.ece, retrieved November 18, 2007
Rachel, Bridge (December 16, 2007), "Daisy blooms as national winner", The Times (London), http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/entrepreneur/article3055846.ece, retrieved December 16, 2007
"Mobiles ring the bell in Tech Track", The Times (London), September 25, 2005, http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article570408.ece, retrieved September 25, 2005
Steph, Welstead (June 2, 2008), Growing Business, http://www.growingbusiness.co.uk/06959143452042111293/matthew-riley.html, retrieved June 2, 2008
Categories:- 1974 births
- Living people
- People from Burnley
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