use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = , burial_place = , burial_coordinates = , monuments = , nationality = Welsh , other_names = , siglum = , citizenship = , education = Buttington Trewern County Primary School
Welshpool High School , alma_mater = , occupation = Entrepreneur
Football chairman , years_active = 1980s-present , era = , employer = , organization = , agent = , known_for = Co-founder of Total Network Solutions
Chairman of

The New Saints F.C. The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club, commonly known as The New Saints () or TNS FC, are an English professional football club that play in the , but are based completely within England, in Oswestry, Shropshire. They a ...

Co-founder of SiFi Networks , notable_works = , style = , height = , television = , title = , term = , predecessor = , successor = , party = , otherparty = , movement = , opponents = , boards = , criminal_charges = , criminal_penalty = , criminal_status = , spouse = , partner = , children = , parents = , mother = , father = , relatives = , family = , callsign = , awards = , website = , module = , module2 = , module3 = , module4 = , module5 = , module6 = , signature = , signature_type = , signature_size = , signature_alt = , footnotes = Mike Harris is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

businessman and football chairman. He is the founder of Total Network Solutions, a telecom solutions provider that was acquired by

British Telecom BT Group plc (formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-li ...

in 2005. In 2013, he founded SiFi Networks to provide open access Internet in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. Since the late 1990s, he has been involved with

, becoming the club's chairman in 2003. The New Saints broke

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

's top flight record of consecutive wins, after recording 27 wins in a row in 2016.

Education & early career

Harris was born in Welshpool in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. He attended Buttington Trewern County Primary School, before Welshpool High School. He left school aged 16, securing an apprenticeship with

. The apprenticeship lasted three years, where he specialised as a strowger engineer. Around this time, he moved to

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

to work as part of the maintenance team for BT's

telephone exchange A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a central component of a telecommunications system in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It facilitates the establishment of communication circuits ...

Business career

Total Network Solutions (1987-2005)

Harris worked in telephone maintenance, including trouble shooting, and in BT’s computer centers implementing distributed data to the desktop until the late 1980s, when System X was introduced as a digital switching system to modernise the exchange. Harris saw a gap in the market where businesses were introducing voice and data systems to the desktop and saw the opportunity to set up his own business. Harris collaborated with Roger Samuels while working on a project for one of his clients, adopting Harris’ vision. In 1991, they decided to merge the two consultancies to form Total Network Solutions (TNS). Total Network Solutions continued to offer the consultancy service Harris had been doing since 1988, but also offered the design, implementation and maintenance of telecom solutions. The new approach was to take products and the consultancy, combine them to create solutions and then take responsibility for delivering the solutions to business. TNS achieved half a million turnover in its first year. He and co-founder Samuels imported technology from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, which gave the company an edge over other providers in both cost and the advanced technology. By 1993, TNS had grown to £18 million turnover and a staff of 120 people. TNS featured - on three separate occasions - in the

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

' Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies during this period. In the mid-1990s, TNS began to maintain Cisco Systems. This allowed them to secure numerous notable clients such as the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

, Abbey National Bank, and Heinz Foods. They installed high speed lines for various university campuses and other large site institutions such as hospitals or councils. TNS also supplied and maintained datacomms for many early internet providers in the UK, such as BusinessNet,

AOL AOL (formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc. The service traces its history to an online ...

, and Level Three. In 2000, Harris became the sole owner of TNS after buying out his business partner Samuels. Harris and TNS then played a major role in the rollout of broadband infrastructure in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. This included many areas of the UK, such as

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

, which were overlooked by those managing fibre expansion. The success of TNS led to Harris winning the

Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...

Technology and Communication Entrepreneur of the Year in 2001 and also a nomination for the same award in 2003. In 2005,

acquired TNS from Harris in a multi-million pound deal.

SiFi Networks & other investments (2013-present)

Harris and Roland Pickstock co-founded SiFi Networks to provide privately funded open access, city-wide fibre networks in the

. The aim was to offer an alternative to the telecomms solutions of the time, where low speeds and only one provider to choose from was common when the business was founded in 2013. In 2021, The company received investments of circa $1 billion from Patrizia and from Dutch pension fund,

APG APG may refer to: * Aberdeen Proving Ground, a United States Army installation in Aberdeen, Maryland **Phillips Army Airfield (IATA code), the airfield of the above * Aboriginal Provisional Government, Indigenous Australian independence movement * ...

. The funds are being deployed to roll out of fibre networks in the US developing their fibre networks under their fibre city brand in the US, Future Fiber Networks LLC (“Future Fiber”). This has, to date, has included Fullerton, Placentia, East Hartford, Saratoga,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and

Kenosha Kenosha () is a city in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is the fourth-most populous city in Wisconsin, with a population of 99,986 at the 2020 census. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Ke ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

The New Saints Football Club

In 2005, Total Network Solutions famously hosted Champions League winners

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in the qualifying round in the defence of their title. Harris sold Total Network Solutions to

and exited the business he co-founded. At the time, he was serving as both the Managing Director of TNS and chairman of the Welsh football club of the same name. Shortly after the sale to British Telecom, Harris announced the football club would be moving to

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the England–Wales border, Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5 road (Great Britain), A5, A483 road, A483 and A495 road, A495 ro ...

in Shropshire, England after TNS merged with Oswestry Town Football Club a couple of seasons earlier. The team was given the new name, The New Saints, keeping the well-known abbreviation of TNS. Following the establishment of The New Saints in their new

home, the football club went through a period of unrivalled success. By 2023, TNS had won the Welsh Premier League 15 times in the previous 23 seasons, making them the most successful Welsh football team in modern history. As the team became more successful on the pitch, so did the club’s finances. Harris grew the annual turnover from £40,000 to £2 million a year. Harris' success at TNS has meant he is often seen as a figurehead of Welsh football, and has been part of the talks for reforming the

Welsh Premier League The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. It was found ...

in recent years.

Philanthropy

Harris formed The New Saints Football Club Foundation in 2013 to help those in the local community around the town of

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

. Following the model of many football community trusts, The New Saints Foundation benefits the local community by running numerous initiatives to promote health, wellbeing and inclusion, including free universal access summer camps which include free meals for the young people in the area. The main aim of TNSFC Foundation is to make physical activity accessible to boost health and social inclusion, while also protecting children and young people from risk of harm. All children and young people can benefit from the Foundation, and sessions include rural youth clubs, fun football skills sessions for 4 to 15 year olds, and provision for disabled children and those with special educational needs. TNSFC Foundation works with various partners and funders to lead and facilitate a diverse range of activities which will promote health, wellbeing and opportunity for the community it serves. The running costs of the Foundation are funded by investments from Harris, while activities and events are funded by fundraising activity and paid-for classes. Currently, the Foundation works with 15 schools in the local area, providing PE lessons and multi-sport after school clubs during term time, as well as around 4,000 places and free meals annually for school holiday activities. After school clubs are typically costed – however, TNSFC Foundation aims to make them as affordable as possible in comparison to other provision in the local area. This also allows the Foundation to work with disengaged young people, who may be at risk of crime,

anti-social behaviour Anti-social behaviours, sometimes called dissocial behaviours, are actions which are considered to violate the rights of or otherwise harm others by committing crime or nuisance, such as stealing and physical attack or noncriminal behaviours s ...

or face exclusion from school. The Foundation recently secured funding for a 12-month programme to work and support these children following a successful pilot project. As well as supporting the local youth, TNSFC Foundation has also offered free meals to the older community in the local area and provides opportunities for older members of the community to get active e.g. through

walking football Walking football is a variant of association football invented in 2011 and is played by thousands of teams all over the UK. Overview It is aimed at keeping people aged over 50 involved with football if, due to a lack of mobility or for other re ...

and local walking initiatives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Mike Living people British businesspeople British technology chief executives British technology company founders Year of birth missing (living people) Welsh football chairmen and investors The New Saints F.C.