Edinburgh Supper Club with Ricky Nicol of Commsworld

Our Supper Clubs are one of our most popular events and always sell out every month.  They’re informal, relaxed evenings and are the perfect mix of inspiration, good food and great conversations.  They give members the best opportunity to get to know their fellow members, meeting those they’ve not met and catching up with those they do. Watch the video at the foot of this page to find our what some of the attendees said about one of our 2022 Edinburgh Supper Clubs.

This month, we’re delighted to be welcoming Ricky Nicol, co-founder and Vice Chairman of Commsworld who, in 2019, was the very worthy winner of our Lifetime Achievement Award. Incredibly humble despite all his success, Ricky is the epitome of a true entrepreneur … driven, passionate, not afraid to take on the big boys, nor to take risks.  We look forward to Ricky sharing his amazing journey with us – the ups, the downs and what he has learnt along the way.

At our 2019 Awards, this is how Ricky described Commsworld:

“A 25-year-old startup with a lot more to come. We’re an innovator and a disruptor in a sector that’s been crying out for disruption for years.”

ABOUT RICKY

Ricky is now semi-retired following the sale of the business, and is now in a non-executive role on the Commsworld Board while remaining an active investor.

Commsworld supports thousands of organisations across the UK,from the ”s” of the SME to the largest Public Sector and Enterprise organisations.  They manage and control the largest privately funded Optical Core network in the UK with extensive on-net Metro reach. They further offer our clients a broad portfolio of Cloud, Security and Voice solutions delivering accessibility to client Applications and Data across the world.

Here are some of Ricky’s considerable achievements over the years:

* Shortlisted for Scottish Business Awards Chivas Brothers Entrepreneur of the Year for 2015.
* Scottish nomination as UK CEO for PwC Private Business Awards 2016
* Ernst Young Entrepreneur of the year Finalist 2019
* WeDO Scotland ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ 2019
* Megabuyte Top 3 Rated UK privately-Owned Telecom Company 2020
* Megabuyte 27th Ranked best performing Privately-Owned tech Company in UK 2020
* Sunday Times Profit Fast Track 23rd in UK 2020
* LDC made major investment in Commsworld December 2019
* Cancer Survivor

In 1994 he co-founded Commsworld, one of the UK’s most successful and profitable Information & Communication Technologies services organisations.  In December 2019, mid-market private equity house Lloyds Development Capital (LDC) completed a record-making double digit investment in Commsworld in a deal giving them a 50% equity stake in the business.

Throughout his career, Ricky has always strived to build a team of high achieving, highly motivated colleagues across all sections of the business.  An active promoter of an open door policy, he’s always encouraged his team to challenge him; he strongly believes it’s the people within the company that make the difference.  He understands that business success is a team game and whilst an entrepreneur leader is required, it’s the team which builds the business.

In January 2006, Ricky was diagnosed with cancer with a 50/50 chance of survival.  This was just at the time that he was starting the evolution of the business which included buying out his co-founder and realigning the business to be a network focused organisation.  He was out of the business for one year undergoing intense chemotherapy and radiotherapy, all the while planning the future from home.

KEY FACTS

• In 2014 Ricky voted against his entire Commsworld board to enforce a strategy of staying strong in the face of incredible challenges by attempting to break into the public sector and corporate enterprise markets.  In August 2015, he was proven correct with the announcement of a milestone contract with CGI to be a key provider in Edinburgh Council’s ICT contract worth £12M.
• Under Ricky’s guidance, Commsworld has become a driving force behind the rollout of high-speed fibre broadband services.  It teamed up with digital infrastructure provider CityFibre to bring about a 150km fibre optic network that put Edinburgh on the map as a Gigabit City.

“While Scotland is creating Ferraris of tech giants such as Skyscanner, such businesses can’t drive on the roads if the connectivity isn’t up to par.  It’s like taking a Ferrari through mud.“