Why TalkTalk founder wrapped up the Manchester Tech Trust
Entrepreneur and philanthropist Neil McArthur is closing the trust he set up to support Manchester’s burgeoning tech scene claiming it has achieved its objectives.
McArthur made his fortune from the merger of his business, Opal Telecom, with Carphone Warehouse to form TalkTalk, the national broadband and telecoms group headquartered close to McArthur’s home in Irlam.
As a LEP board member and University of Manchester governor, he offered to look at the wider issue of financing for SMEs in the city region, leading to the formation of the Tech Trust in 2015, alongside Peter Lusty and veteran venture capitalist Richard Young.
At the time he told TheBusinessDesk.com that: “Manchester didn’t have a very high profile in the tech enterprise sector, so we were asked to expand our work and start looking at it as a tech enterprise and very quickly Peter joined me because the scale of the job became quite large.”
Now claiming a reversal of that situation, TechTrust has “worked on its mission, leaving what we hope will be a lasting impact on the city’s tech scene.”
The establishment of the trust wasn’t smooth sailing however. The often fractious Manchester tech scene at the time included different organisations set up to represent the diverse sector, and with different agendas.
McArthur is still active in business as the chairman of Freedom Fibre, which partners with Internet Service Providers to optimise the UK’s fibre network. Its partners include TalkTalk.
In a statement, Lusty and McArthur said the Trust has boasted several key achievements, including support, guidance and expertise tech companies, networking events, conferences and workshops such as Silicon Valley Comes to the UK (SVC2UK), and the curation of Manchester Tech Trust Angels, resulting in direct investment of over £1 million matched by similar funding from institutional investors.
Lusty said: “We recognise Neil McArthur for his initiative and vision in establishing Manchester Tech Trust and his work as a Trustee, but also as the major funder of the Trust through his charity, Hamilton Davies Trust. Other individuals also generously contributed to the Trust, and we thank them again for those donations.
“Neil and I would like to offer our appreciation and thanks to Richard Young for his work as a Trustee and for his always honest and stalwart advice and, just as importantly, for his friendship and kindness. Richard sometimes describes himself as the oldest surviving venture capitalist in Manchester and his knowledge and experience have been invaluable to us, and the work of the Trust.”
