Organisation
ISPA's regulatory activity is coordinated through four subgroups which focus on particular issues of ongoing concern to the membership. The subgroups are a forum for members to share their views and, in consultation with the wider membership, determine how the organisation positions itself.
Council and subgroups are supported by a Secretariat which is responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation.
With more than 20 years of experience in the telecoms industry, Steve Leighton is CEO at Voneus, the champion of rural community and leading provider of wireless superfast broadband infrastructure for poorly connected or difficult to reach communities.
Prior to working at Voneus, Steve co-founded Keycom Plc in 2000, a company specialising in the delivery of voice and internet services to the UK’s tertiary education sector. Here he held the role of Sales and Marketing Director for four years before becoming involved in other online start-ups, including Greenroom Digital and Findsyou Limited.
Before transitioning to the telecommunications industry, Steve had a successful Government career, culminating in the role of Head of Communications Sponsorship at the Department of Trade and Industry.
As CEO of Voneus since 2011, Steve aims to ensure all communities within the UK receive superfast broadband and for Voneus to become the market leader for rural broadband provision.
Will leads networks policy at BT Group, including barrier busting and network security. Before joining BT in August 2022, he spent four years as Head of Policy at Openreach, where he led policy development across a number of different areas. He has previously worked at Ofcom and the Federation of Small Businesses, where he focussed on infrastructure and rural affairs policy.
Sinead is a Policy Manager at Sky where she leads on the company’s policy work relating to telecoms and digital issues in the UK. In her role, she covers areas such as network security, consumer and competition policy, and online safety initiatives.
Prior to joining Sky, Sinead worked at Virgin Media O2 where she was similarly involved in the company’s public affairs and policy work, with a particular focus on digital, security, and content policy, and in public affairs consultancy advising a number of companies on technology, media and telecoms policy issues.
Joining Trenches Law in 2019, Georgina has years of industry experience, including a wayleave manager position with Virgin Media for 2 years. As Trenches Law’s head of wayleave and trainee solicitor, Georgina is a valuable colleague and an active presence at industry meetings and conferences to ensure we remain abreast of the ever-changing wayleave regulations, protocol, and best practice.
She is also a regular guest speaker at sector events, most recently discussing wayleave legislation changes.
Mick Everett is the MD and founder of Blue Spider Consulting – a provider of fully managed Internet and VoIP services into select multi-occupancy residential accommodation.
He is an apprentice-served comms engineer and has worked within the comms industry all his working life, operating at Director level within a variety of comms companies over the last 30+ years. Mick holds a number of current product-related accreditations including Avaya, Ubiquiti and Draytek and is a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (MIET).
During his career, Mick has been intrinsic in the provision and support of managed IP telephony, Internet and IPTV services into a significant number of student and keyworker residential accommodation sites across the UK, including at Universities, hospitals and housing associations.
Kathryn Bowden is Head of Regulation, Policy and Compliance at Shell Energy. She previously worked at the Post Office for 3 years before Shell Energy purchased the telecoms business. Prior to this, Kathryn spent eight years at BT with a variety of roles including time spent in Openreach covering the wholesale market where she utilised experience from her first class degree in Industrial Economics.
Kathryn has recently moved to Bray with her family and are renovating both the house and garden in their spare time. It's a big project that she thinks will take about 5 years to complete but is looking forward to the challenge.
Over a decade ago, Sam embarked on the journey of building Vostron, driven by the desire of wanting to change the way things are done in the ever-developing world of the Internet and telecoms.
With that in mind he has passionately dedicated himself to building a business that provides an unrivalled service and customer experience. From developing a bespoke internal monitoring system, to building a customer service ethos, that is like no other, Sam has been the driving force behind Vostron and will strive to always improve every element of Vostron, for our customers.
When not at work, Sam devotes most of his spare time to his two children but he still finds time to follow his passion for sailing, running and various other outdoor activities. He is also a great cook! Sam is determined to deliver a better experience for our customers and is always available to answer any of your queries.
Emma is a Senior Public Affairs Manager at CityFibre, leading on policy development and MP engagement. In her role, she is responsible for policy areas including barriers to rollout, rural deployment and telecoms security, working with both UK and Scottish Governments and Parliaments. Prior to joining CityFibre in 2021, Emma worked in Public Affairs Consultancy advising businesses in the tech, telecoms and travel sectors, including working as part of the ISPA secretariat managing the Broadband Policy workstream.
Jacquie Mellor is the Associate Counsel at Virgin Media. She joined ISPA Council in 2012.
Jacquie is commercially focused and adaptable lawyer, with a very broad range of commercial and regulatory experience obtained in an organisation that has seen enormous change over the years.
She specializes in Intellectual Property Rights, Telecommunications, Information Technology, Outsourcing and Procurement, Data Protection, Network Security, Consumer Broadband, Public WiFi, Content Acquisition, Product Development, Interconnect, Regulatory.
Gemma is the Head of the Regulatory and Government Affairs team for UK and Ireland at Verizon. Her responsibilities cover all public policy, regulatory compliance, and government relations for these two jurisdictions. Gemma also covers areas such as network security, cyber security, and sustainability across the European region.
Before joining Verizon in 2017, she spent three and half years working across multiple disciplines at the UK regulator, Ofcom, including areas of international policy, content policy, radio licensing, and competition policy.
Steve Glendinning is a UK based Entrepreneur, with technical expertise ranging from Formula 1 to the ISP industry. Steve has 14 years of Telco experience in the UK and was a co-founder of business ISP WarwickNet. Today Steve is CTO at Brsk, installing full fibre broadband to homes and businesses across Britain.
Robert is Swish Fibre’s Head of Regulatory Affairs. Prior to joining Swish in May 2022, Robert was Deputy Director for Broadband in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), working on the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR) and the first Statement of Strategic Priorities (SSP) for telecoms.
Ben is Public Affairs Lead for Gigaclear and is responsible for working with Members of Parliament across the ISP’s network. He deals with incoming enquiries and manages site visits, proactive contact and briefings to ensure MPs are across the work that Gigaclear are doing in their constituencies. He also supports Gigaclear’s work with central Government and advises the business on policy and political issues.
Ben has been with Gigaclear since January 2019 and prior to moving to Public Affairs, he worked as a Community Engagement Manager, where amongst other responsibilities he was responsible for delivering resident meetings in communities in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire. Prior to that he spent seven years as Constituency Office Manager for Mark Harper MP (now Transport Secretary) in the Forest of Dean and managed his correspondence, diary and social media. He is also an experienced radio broadcaster having been programme manager at Radio Pembrokeshire for six years where the highlight was winning the 2010 Arqiva Award for Specialist Programme of the Year with his popular Friday Night Sport Show.