We’re pleased to speak with Louise Allott, an experienced commercial and operational leader who has spent more than 25 years building and scaling businesses across private equity-backed, technology-led and regulated environments.
Now an independent consultant and Board Advisor, Louise partners with CEOs, Boards and private equity investors to support growth, transformation and long term value creation. Most recently, as a founding executive at BeFibre, she helped build the business from inception to tens of thousands of customers and multi million-pound revenue.
In this Q&A, Louise reflects on scaling a PE-backed fibre business, the importance of customer led growth, what investors should consider when backing digital infrastructure businesses, and how finance, operations and leadership teams can work together to deliver lasting value.
You were a founding executive at BeFibre, helping take it from launch to tens of thousands of customers and multi million pound revenue. What were those early days like, and when did you know it was going to work?
It was an exciting opportunity to bring together what I’d learned in corporate and smaller business environments and help build a business from the outset. I enjoyed the variety and the opportunity to be involved in both the longer-term direction and the practical work needed each day.
My responsibilities spanned sales, marketing, customer service and installations. Having that breadth of involvement reinforced how closely those functions depend on one another. The proposition needs to appeal to customers, the sales process needs to work, and the teams delivering the service need to be ready to fulfil the promise.
I don’t think confidence in a business comes from one moment. For me, it builds through having a clear plan, capable people and a shared understanding of what you are trying to achieve. You also need to be willing to learn as you go and adjust your approach when you have better information.
What I particularly enjoyed was working with people to turn ideas into something practical. Seeing colleagues develop and take ownership is a very rewarding part of building a business.
What does an effective CFO/COO partnership look like in a PE-backed digital infrastructure business, and where can finance leaders add more value to operational and commercial decisions?
The relationship between the CFO or finance team and the operational team is one of the most important in the business. You’ve got to have trust so you can confidently challenge each other. There will always be trade-offs: operational leaders need to understand the financial impact of their decisions and both teams need to agree the resources, risks and expected return.
Some of the most useful conversations happen as part of the decision making process, rather than after a decision has been made. The operations and finance teams need to go on that journey together. For example, if we want to accelerate sales, we need to understand the cost of acquiring and connecting those customers, the margin they will generate and when the cash comes through. Finance and operations need to work through those assumptions together.
Finance leaders add real value when they’re close to the operation and understand it. I’ve been lucky in my career to work with some fantastic finance team members who have been really close to my team and the operation. They’ve been transformational in decision making and in building shared respect and understanding between the teams. Having a finance team that’s curious about what you’re doing and isn’t too distant from the operation is really important.
You’ve led large teams through growth and change. How do you protect culture when a business is scaling quickly or integrating an acquisition?
I put a lot of emphasis on being visible, approachable and clear with people. As a business grows, you have to be deliberate about maintaining those connections. You can no longer rely on everyone hearing the same conversation or having regular access to the leadership team.
People need to understand where the business is going, what their role contributes and what a change means for them. They also need opportunities to ask questions, raise concerns and contribute ideas. Some of the most useful insight comes from the people closest to customers and day-to-day delivery.
When bringing businesses together, I believe it’s important to understand the strengths of each organisation and respect the experience people bring. There is a practical task of aligning systems and processes, alongside the human task of helping colleagues establish new relationships and understand their place in the combined business.
You won’t always have every answer immediately. My approach is to share what I can, be clear about what is still being worked through and explain when there will be another update. Consistency matters: people form their view of leadership through everyday decisions and whether commitments are followed through.
Telecoms has traditionally been a male dominated industry, particularly in technical and operational leadership. What has your experience taught you about building credibility and influencing decisions at senior level?
The telecommunications sector has come a long way in the last two decades, with more women moving into senior leadership roles. My career has taken me across technical, operational, customer and commercial roles. That breadth has helped me understand different perspectives and contribute to discussions with confidence.
Over time, I’ve become more confident in my judgment and what I bring to the discussion. Sometimes, as a woman, you feel you have to try a little harder to prove yourself, so I prepare well, challenge people when I think I need to and follow through on the commitments I make. I also build strong relationships, which helps me get my points across and build the credibility and gravitas needed in a senior leadership role.
As a leader, I’m conscious of making sure everybody’s views are heard. If I see potential in people in my teams, I want to give them opportunities to grow and develop their careers. That’s important for every leader to do. You’re responsible not only for your own career, but for other people’s careers too.
What do backers most often underestimate in a digital infrastructure business? The complexity of deployment, customer acquisition, the time it takes to reach scale or something else?
I think it’s a mixture of all those things. I would encourage investors to look at the connection between deployment, customer acquisition and organisational capability. Each has its own requirements and timescales, and the investment plan needs to bring them together. The funding plan needs to allow for the time between building the network, connecting customers and generating sufficient revenue to support the operation
From an investor’s point of view, I think the organisational effort required to deliver the plan is often underestimated. Network deployment is complex, and while there are no customers connected, the network is costing money.
There’s a lot of work behind the numbers, from recruiting engineers and commercial teams to putting customer equipment and systems in place. Businesses also operate in a regulated environment, so decisions around customers need to comply with Ofcom requirements.
Investors also value ambition, but the relationship works best when operational teams and investors have open, honest conversations and share regular updates. This builds trust, allows both sides to challenge assumptions and work together on solutions. It’s a really important two way relationship.
Many fibre businesses achieve impressive network coverage but struggle to turn it into profitable growth. What separates the platforms that succeed commercially from those that don’t?
Building a network and building a commercially successful business require different capabilities. Both need to be planned and funded from the outset.
The businesses that have done well and started to achieve profitable growth are the ones that understand customers and how to serve them. In a business offering both infrastructure and services, the decisions are closely connected. Sales activity needs to be supported by installation capacity, and the service experience needs to give customers a reason to stay. Clear communication and reliable delivery help build confidence in the brand.
My experience has reinforced the value of bringing commercial, finance and operational colleagues into these decisions together. You get a clearer view of the opportunity and a more practical plan for delivering it.
Louise’s experience highlights that success in digital infrastructure goes beyond building networks. It takes strong leadership, capable teams and a clear understanding of customers, supported by close collaboration between management and investors. Bringing people, commercial ambition and operational delivery together is essential to building sustainable businesses and creating long-term value.
Thank you to Louise for sharing her insights and knowledge with us!
