Who we are

As a consistent innovator and technologist with a strong cyber security background, Professor Adam Beaumont is the Founder and Chairman of trusted communications specialist, aql and CEO of Isle of Man based telecommunications company, BlueWave. He is also the driving force behind establishing both IXLeeds, a fully independent internet exchange outside London and the Isle of Man’s first and only internet exchange, ManxIX. An active angel investor, Adam founded not-for-profit investment platform, NorthInvest which propels co-investment in tech start-ups across the North of the UK.

Adam started his communications career in secure mobile networking for an agency of the MoD. His passion for future technology and its positive impact on the economy and society was recognised by the Maserati 100 to which he became a member in 2019. He is also an ex-lecturer at the University of Leeds and supports its students through an awards scheme to promote the next generation scientists and technologists, The Beaumont Awards and offers scholarships for underprivileged students.

Adam is also the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Estonia championing trade and close relations with the UK.

Our work in building “Trust Technology” around data provenance and integrity has led to us appointing Baroness Pauline Neville Jones as a Non Executive Director. Her breadth of experience will serve us well as we navigate this exciting growth area.

Baroness Neville Jones is a Conservative Life peer who has sat under this title in the Lords since 15 October 2007. Until April 2019 Pauline was a Council Member for the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. She is a board member for the Cyclotron Trust (particle therapy research) and a Chairman of Advisory Board, Cyber Security Challenge.

Her experience within the field of science and technology have taken Pauline overseas to build and reinforce interational relationships in the field. She undertook a visit to Iceland in September 2019, with the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Polar Regions, for meetings and briefings with the government of Iceland, and other stakeholders, with a focus on climate change.

The investment we’ve put into building our advanced digital infrastructure, as well as the positive impact we always strive to make, has resulted in us appointing Jeremy Silver as a Non Executive Director.

Jeremy is the CEO of Digital Catapult, the UK’s not-for-profit authority on advanced digital technology. He is also a trustee of the British Library, a member of the UK Creative Industries Council and sits on the boards of HammerheadVR, Imaginarium Studios and Feedforward.ai.

Previously, he was Executive Chairman of Semetric, which was acquired by Apple, CEO of Sibellius Software, which was acquired by Avid and Worldwide Vice-President of New Media for EMI Group in Los Angeles.

With over 22 years of experience, Bill has worked across various senior developer and infrastructure roles within the Internet service provider (ISP) and telecommunications industry. As aql’s CTO, Bill takes ownership of the company’s strategic technical direction with the managerial responsibility of the development, datacentre and technical teams.

Bill leads the maintenance, progression and creation of aql’s messaging, voice and hosting services, plus is instrumental in building the company’s 5G capabilities.

Previous roles have seen him focus on a variety of technologies and platforms including ESB (Enterprise Service Bus) implementations, Commercial/Wholesale experience of SIP / VoIP platforms and voice termination, Private/Bespoke Cloud infrastructure and MNO interconnects (SMS/Data).

Outside of work, Bill is an avid fan of photography, embedded electronics and spending time with his wife, twin girls and two golden retrievers.

Simon has 24 years of experience working in front line sales and customer engagement in the telecoms industry. His two decades of work in telecoms has imbued him with a breadth of knowledge and expertise that he applies to shaping aql’s commercial vision.

When he’s not working, Simon is a keen Leeds United supporter, amateur golfer, and passionate horticulturalist.

Andrew is responsible for defining and taking forward future facing products being developed at aql. Using his 20 plus years of experience across the entire IT development and product cycle, Andrew supports the organisation’s group technical vision and development of its product portfolio. He works closely with aql’s team of engineers and developers while collaborating closely with the marketing and support teams. Prior to joining aql, Andrew gained extensive experience in Development Management, IT Architecture, and Product Management roles in a wide mix of industries.

As a passionate technologist, Andrew has always been focused on developing market-leading solutions and building high-performance teams to ensure the best quality delivery.

Andy heads up aql’s team of Service Managers and Project Managers that make the company’s 5G projects happen. Whilst service management is at the core, his responsibilities spread across key account management, project management, contract management and regulatory responsibilities. As part of Andy’s role, he is the key contact for aql’s 5G partners, helping them with frameworks and contracts to understand their needs.

With a strong background in customer relations and support, Andy makes sure aql is providing the correct solutions and services to match the needs of each project. He also spends a large portion of time working with aql’s Technical and Development teams to ensure any requirements can be managed and fulfilled in a timely fashion and issues are handled swiftly.

When not driving aql 5G projects, Andy enjoys a spot of photography, astronomy, astrophotography, cycling and motorsport.

Ivan has over 15 years of experience in the messaging market, holding senior and consulting roles at and with major international messaging and CPaaS companies. His experience in B2B management, global sales, partnership development and operations will help shape our messaging services and solutions, ensuring that they continue to evolve in line with the market’s needs.
With a proven history of leading large teams across multiple countries, Ivan is equipped to continue growing and leading aql’s commercial team.

Outside of the office Ivan is an lover of football, travelling and wine.