Professor Adam Beaumont DL (born August 1972) is a businessman,

angel investor An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital to a business or businesses, including startups, usually in exchange for convertible de ...

, trustee and digital entrepreneur. He is the CEO of telecommunications provider aql, a visiting professor of

cyber security Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and networks from thr ...

at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

and the

Honorary Consul A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

of the

Republic of Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

to the

Northern Powerhouse The Northern Powerhouse was a proposal to boost economic growth in the North of England by the 2010–2015 coalition government and 2015–2016 Conservative government in the United Kingdom, particularly in the " Core Cities" of Hull, Manches ...

and the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

Early life and education

Beaumont was state educated. He was born in Stockport, England. He has a PhD in Physical Chemistry and a BSc in Colour and Polymer Chemistry from the University of Leeds.

Career

After completing his PhD, Beaumont began his career at age 24 with a three-year stint as the University of Leeds' youngest lecturer in physical chemistry, including

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is the fundamental physical Scientific theory, theory that describes the behavior of matter and of light; its unusual characteristics typically occur at and below the scale of atoms. Reprinted, Addison-Wesley, 1989, It is ...

and

thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, Work (thermodynamics), work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed b ...

. He then spent some time in secure mobile communications for the Defence Evaluation Research Agency (DERA), an agency of the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. Beaumont was involved in building the agency's first cyber teams. Beaumont founded telecommunications platform company aql in 1998, and is the company's CEO. In 2008, he purchased the Salem Chapel, a 1791 Grade II listed building in the heart of Leeds. Over several years, he restored the building and turned it into the main data hub in the North. The restored chapel houses aql's head office, and has hosted the launch of government initiatives, including the

concept and the first Northern Powerhouse Partnership report. He is a founder and board member of IXLeeds, the UK’s first and only fully independent

internet exchange Internet exchange points (IXes or IXPs) are common grounds of IP networking, allowing participant Internet service providers (ISPs) to exchange data destined for their respective networks. IXPs are generally located at places with preexistin ...

outside London. He has also founded ManxIX, the first and only internet exchange on the Isle of Man and is the operator of the islands SpaceX Starlink ground station. In 2015, Beaumont founded the not-for-profit investment platform NorthInvest. As an angel investor, he invests between £20,000 and £400,000 in early-stage tech companies, including CBiS Education, Deekit, ID Health, Memento VR, Gravity Industries, handi, jet-drone company Hydra, artificial diamond innovator Dyman, and satellite startup Kappazeta. NorthInvest raised over £2 million for startups in Q1 2020 and over £22 million throughout that year. NorthInvest is also a notable driver of diversity and equality in entrepreneurship. After aql acquired

-based communications provider BlueWave Communications in 2015, Beaumont became the company's CEO. BlueWave was the first 5G operator on the Isle of Man. Beaumont is active internationally, leading the founding delegation to create UK TechLink. More recently, he led a delegation of northern business leaders on an April 2017 trade mission to San Francisco as part of the government's Northern Powerhouse initiative. In January 2018, he helped launch

Transport for the North Transport for the North (TfN) is the first statutory sub-national transport body in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 2018 to make the case for strategic transport improvements across the North of England. Creating this body represented ...

's Strategic Transport Plan to transform transportation in the North of England over the next 30 years.

Honours and other endeavours

Beaumont was appointed a visiting professor of cyber security at the University of Leeds in October 2017. He is also a governor of

Leeds City College Leeds City College is the largest further education establishment in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England with around 26,000 students, 2,300 staff, with an annual turnover of £78 million.

. He is a patron o
Leeds Community Foundation
and the major supporter o
Child friendly Leeds
In June 2017, Beaumont was appointed as a Trustee of the

Eden Project The Eden Project () is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, England. The project is located in a reclaimed china clay clay pit, pit.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS Explorer Map 107 – Fowey, Looe & Lostwithiel''. . The complex is dominated by two h ...

. He was also a Non Executive Director of the Eden Project International Board, the team responsible for initiating Eden projects in China, Ireland, Dubai, US. Latterly he became a notable donor to Eden. He was a key driver of Eden Project North until his resignation as a Trustee, alleging a lack of confidence in members of the Eden Executive and Trustee team. Beaumont was named International Director of the Year 2017 for Yorkshire and the North East by the

Institute of Directors The Institute of Directors (IoD) is a British professional organisation for company directors, senior business leaders and entrepreneurs. It is the UK's longest running organisation for professional leaders, having been founded in 1903 and inco ...

. He was named Director of the Year for Innovation in 2018. He was named International Director of the Year in 2019. He was named as a Maserati 100 Entrepreneur in 2019. He was appointed to the board of the

Leeds City Region The Leeds City Region, or informally Greater Leeds, is a local enterprise partnership City region (United Kingdom), city region located in West Yorkshire, England. Prior to the West Yorkshire devolution deal, the partnership covered parts of Sou ...

Enterprise Partnership (LEP) in 2017. He was named

of the

to the Northern Powerhouse and the Isle of Man in April 2018. He is also the owner of

Porkuni Porkuni () is a village in Tapa Parish, Lääne-Viru County, in northern Estonia. The settlement is located around the Lake Porkuni, which is the source of the Valgejõgi River. In 1944, the Battle of Porkuni was fought in the area. Porkuni cas ...

Manor managed b
Porkuni Mois OÜ
Beaumont joined the UK5G Advisory Board in March 2018. His mobile network BlueWave received permissions to operate 5G in the Isle of Man A regular keynote speaker on topics including

and

mobile security Mobile security, or mobile device security, is the protection of smartphones, tablets, and laptops from threats associated with wireless computing. It has become increasingly important in mobile computing. The Information security, security of pe ...

, Beaumont delivered the opening address at the

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

leg of the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of List of English monarchs, English (later List of British monarchs, British) monarchs ...

's prestigious Pitch@Palace entrepreneurship competition in February 2018. In April, he gave two talks at CYBERUK 2018, the

National Cyber Security Centre National Cyber Security Centre, National Cyber Security Center, or National Cybersecurity Center may refer to: Americas * Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, United States * Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, Canada Asia * Banglad ...

's (NCSC) annual flagship conference. In 2022, he addressed the Global Air and Space Chiefs Conference. He is part of

's team that successfully bid on a place on

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

's (MIT) two-year Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme (REAP). Beaumont and the team are now alumni of the programme. In 2018 he created funded the
Beaumont Awards
- an award for outstanding final year research which has the potential to positively impact society, the winners each receiving a medal inspired by the achievements in research-led public education by Michael Faraday. He was made a Deputy Lieutenant of the West Yorkshire Lieutenancy in 2023. He is also an Honorary Group Captain in the RAF serving as a Royal Auxiliary in the City of London 601 Squadron.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaumont, Adam Living people 1972 births Alumni of the University of Leeds Businesspeople from Leeds 21st-century English businesspeople Technology company founders British technology company founders