The channel’s Women in Technology agenda has hit an inflection point where heightened awareness must be converted into tangible progress – and men need to play their part.
Fri, 7/10/2022 - 09:43
Flomatik CEO Dean Checkley confesses that 2021 was a tough year for the business, a feeling shared by many, but with a new target operating model for 2022, he states the business is now ready to move from surviving, to thriving.
Checkley states that the vision for 2023 is to continue supporting the UK altnet community on both a small and large scale with design; survey and core engineering services, whilst looking at expansion opportunities in Europe and moving to new service offerings such as RAN and EV.
“As an organisation, we think it’s important to continue to explore new verticals and utilise our existing core skills in design and network engineering expertise to the best of our ability,” he said.
Flomatik continues to see modest growth in revenues by offering survey work, consultancy, end-to-end design services, ready-for-construction packs, fibre rollout perspective and fibre splicing services.
Labour Constraints
Checkley is part of the INCA Special Interest Group which focuses on addressing resource constraints in the industry. The SIG looks to break the barriers of entry for new starters in the industry by encouraging altnets to move away from traditional thinking.
“The labour shortage is being exacerbated by our traditional approaches and expectations of what people should/need to have for both qualifications and experience,” he said
“It’s often forgotten that apprentices can be any age – there is a lot of capability and talent out there that can and should be utilised.”
Supply chain
Checkley also notes that access to materials will continue to hamper altnet's plans for the next 18 months and is expected to slow down build rates going into Q4 and early 2023.
According to Checkley, this issue may be augmented by the stockpiling of certain materials and equipment by operators looking to get ahead of the curve.
“The key thing I would change about the industry is looking at how to work as a collective sector to overcome the resource constraints – there is enough for everyone,” he said.
“The altnets that ‘stocked up ‘will have an advantage, but this also means they will need a good inventory of design – Flomatik will be needed to provide this, to ensure they don’t lag behind.”
Collaboration
Closer collaboration is something Checkley advocates for in all areas of the industry, with suppliers, altnets, councils and governing bodies all required to talk and find methods of standardisation.
“There will no doubt at some point in time be a need for closer collaboration,” he added. “It’s inevitable that the altnet sector will consolidate over the coming years, which will present its own challenges in terms of network continuity and consistency in the build architecture of which will no doubt be addressed over time.”
Despite the challenges discussed, Checkley’s outlook is a very positive one. “There are challenges that come with working in the altnet space, but I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” he said.
“It’s an exciting sector to be in right now, and things like this only happen once in a lifetime – to be part of this journey is incredible. We’re helping communities to create a connected future and customers to fulfil their connected dreams.”
Checkley was named CEO at Flomatik in March 2021 after joining the company as Chief Delivery Officer in 2021.
He joined with significant altnet experience, serving as Interim MD for Rural Optic at Airband for nine months after a period with Virgin Media Business.
“My career so far has been a journey of discovery. I believe that we should all learn something new every day, to develop our skillset and be better as people. My role as CEO is an accumulation of everything I’ve achieved so far, and it’s a privilege and honour to lead Flomatik and its 147 staff,” he said.
