The Board

Chair - Andy Davidson

Andy is CTO at Asteroid International BV, a company which operates several Internet Exchange Points, for private data centres in Africa and North America. He is also an elected board member of The European Internet Exchange Association, the trade association of the interconnection industry. Andy previously co-founded Allegro Networks, the world's first fully automated interconnection network. This service allowed ISPs to connect to each other, in remote datacentres, activating connections in just minutes. For a decade, he served on the board of LONAP, another neutral Internet Exchange point in the UK. Andy has operated or assisted IXPs in four continents, working in widely different market conditions.

Finance Director - Mark Fordyce

Mark is the founder and Managing Director of York Data Services Limited, a business ISP and Cloud managed services provider based in York serving over 700 hundred businesses across the UK. He holds directorships in several northern-based companies from high technology to music publishing and sits on the Governing Body for York St John University.

Mark is also a board member of Make It York, who’s mission is to grow the economic prosperity and the wider wellbeing of York. He has previously served as a member of the Digital York Board, which oversaw the Digital Strategy and Delivery Plan for the City of York Council, where Mark’s expertise in media, technology and entertainment has helped to spawn a thriving economic platform for the City of York.

Technical Director - Tom Bird

Tom has been working on internet connectivity and hosting in some capacity since the 90s, starting with an old PC in a cupboard on a 64k Pipex line at a local printing firm, moving on through the UK's largest domain reseller, followed by creating a medium sized wireless ISP network in Nottingham, and then helping to maintain a large number of enterprise networks in Spain, including briefly having enable access on the actual AS 1234.

He also spent time with BBC Research and wrote the first version of iPlayer that actually worked (you're welcome). He currently runs Portfast Ltd which provides hosting, cloud services and domain names and is based in Sheffield, provides freelance technical assistance to other networks including the LONAP peering point in London, and is technical director of Idaq Networks which, among other things, provides city-wide free wifi throughout Sheffield and is peering at IXLeeds.

Company Secretary - Adam Beaumont

Adam is the founder and Managing Director of aql, a specialist communications company whose datacentre houses IXLeeds. His current involvements are a WiFi innovation company, a GSM engineering company, a cafe-bar and a whitelabel wholesale telecommunications operator. He's a patron of the Leeds Community Foundation and an active participant within the Leeds Sustainable Development Group - an initiative centred around forward thinking city expansion.

Director - Lou Ashtonhurst

Bio pending

Director - Ian Cleary

Bio pending

Director - Richard Irving

Richard has over 30 years industry experience in the Telecommunications and Internet Service Provider environment.

He started his career with British Rail’s Telecommunications division and specialised in various aspects of the BR Packet Switched data network including IBM SNA/HDLC and Radio. More recently he has worked for GTS/Ebone, KPNQwest, Sprint, Cogent, TATA and AboveNet, holding both Operational and Commercial roles.

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IXLEEDS LIMITED

Company number 07785479

11-15 Hunslet Road
Leeds
LS10 1JQ