The power of vertical integration: how Vorboss built London’s best business fibre network

At Vorboss, we have completely transformed business connectivity in London. By building a vertically integrated organisation, we have created a dedicated business fibre network that is driving London towards 10Gbps as a standard, a change that businesses desperately need.

Our innovative business model has allowed us to build a network with significantly more capacity—we start where others top out, connecting customers up to 100Gbps at market-leading rates. We also get customers connected much faster than the current industry standard, setting us apart.  

Why did we throw out the traditional telecoms playbook? So we could redefine what's possible for London's underserved businesses. The Vorboss way isn't just a different way—it's a better way, and this is how we did it.

Building a disruptive business model

Building London's best full-coverage business fibre network was no small feat. 70% of the UK's connectivity demands are in Central London, but an ageing incumbent internet operator serves 80% of that market. It can't meet the needs of modern businesses, which is why we came in and built our network with the latest technology and newest design.  

We built a future ready network that serves ambitious businesses. To date, we've deployed over 500 km of network in three years—a scale no other fibre company has taken on in Central London, especially in such a short amount of time.    

We achieved this through vertical integration; by owning the entire value chain from fibre to service delivery, we have complete control over the quality and build of our network. We offer our customers the highest levels of reliability and flexibility, which isn’t possible with a traditional telecoms model.

Putting customers first

Unlike most telcos, we started by thinking about customers’ needs and worked backwards. A laser focus on market-leading bandwidth, capacity, and delivery has resulted in unassailable products for London's enterprises.  

Vorboss is the only vertically integrated internet service provider (ISP) dedicated to business in London. Our people-focused operational model maximises efficiency and delivers an outstanding customer experience.  

Powering an unconventional model  

Our belief that people come first and assets second led us to create an unconventional model for powering our network.  

Creating a motivated workforce

‍To be truly vertically integrated, we had to start with our workforce. We created a certified training academy that takes people with zero telecoms experience and qualifies them to build our network. We are one of only a few UK ISPs that do all their training in-house; while it may not be the easy option, it is the only way to deliver the quality standard necessary for our ambitious customers.  

Keeping our training in-house allows us to build diversity and inclusion into our team, addressing the industry's significant diversity problem from the ground up. By looking at real-life people rather than numbers, we have created a team that is engaged, motivated, and willing to think differently to solve problems for customers. This approach makes good business sense, but it's also the right thing to do; future decision-makers will want to buy from companies that share their values.  

From planning to customer support, it is an exceptional customer experience from end-to-end. Our customers will only ever speak to members of the Vorboss team, not contractors.

Moving people and assets separately

Many of our employees are young Londoners who rely on public transportation to get around the city. Rather than limiting our talent pool to those who can drive, we developed a system where we separated personnel and resources.  

Our model enables Installation Technicians to travel to site via public transportation. We hire professional drivers to transport tools and equipment to workers in the field. This separation allows our teams to deliver a better product by moving faster and working more efficiently. 

Building our own software

Early on, we saw that we needed more than off-the-shelf software solutions to power our innovative model. We have assembled a team of 25 software developers (and growing), led by our Chief Information Officer, so we can move at speed and build customer-facing products that are fit for purpose.  

Our software team has built a data management platform that sees the relationships between all business data. They build tools to aid deployment and network operation; for example, they developed a tool that finds all customers affected by a given fault. Using low-code prototypes, business problems are solved in minutes rather than hours.  

By having a dedicated software team working on our core business functionality, we increase yield for the rest of the business. This allows us to operate with agility, build solutions that our customers need, and make strategic decisions based on real-time data.  

Setting a new standard

Our organisation is made for change. Our network will accommodate the evolving economic climate, as well as the growing needs of our customers, to secure London’s position in the global economy.

After growing a workforce of around 400 and building the ability to connect over 120,000 businesses in Central London, we can safely say that our model works. Backed by the Fern Trading Group, which is advised by Octopus Investments, our fresh approach and extensive premium network, combined with a team that reflects the communities it serves, has made us the best and largest business-only fibre network in Central London.

If you would like to learn more about getting connected with us, speak to one of our experts today.

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