Two years after it was launched in the North East, ultrafast internet service provider, YouFibre, continues to grow at a rapid rate. Stuart Holliday tells PETER BARRON how he became Head of Sales – and his ambitions for further growth

Even as a young lad growing up in rural County Durham, Stuart Holliday’s entrepreneurial spirit was never far from the surface – especially when it involved his love of fishing and selling his catch to the local pub.

Stuart still loves to go fishing as a way of relaxing but, these days, he’s also proving to be a huge success by casting a different type of net as wide as possible. As head of sales for YouFibre, he’s landing record numbers of new customers at one of the country’s fastest-growing internet service providers.

YouFibre offers the fastest and cheapest internet services in the UK, providing speeds of up to 10,000Mbps (140 times faster than the average home in the UK) using new full-fibre infrastructure, built by Netomnia.

“It’s incredible how quickly the business has grown in such a short time,” says Stuart. “Two years ago, no one had heard of us, but by the end of this year, we’re looking at hitting the 50,000-mark for customer orders.”

Stuart’s natural ability for sales took root when he was growing up in the picturesque village of Frosterley. The owners of the Black Bull, where he collected glasses as a kid, were always happy to buy the salmon and trout he caught in the River Wear.

“I was selling fish for £1.50 per pound and could make £20 on a decent salmon, so I was happy,” he recalls.

Asked about the biggest fish he’s ever caught, he breaks into a smile: “I’m a fisherman, so I might be prone to exaggeration,” he admits, but goes on to tell the tale anyway.

“It was when I was fishing with my Dad one day. We had a bite that started at Kenneth’s Bridge at Frosterley, and we’d waded halfway to Stanhope before we’d caught a beautiful 16lbs salmon. Aye, that was a good day!”

Stuart’s dad, Shaun, was a manager at the Blue Circle cement factory, at Eastgate, while mum, Judith, was a school business manager, and there was always a strong work ethic in the family.

As well as selling his fish to the pub, Stuart had a paper round and milk round. “I worked out that if I hitched a ride on the back of the milk float, it was easier to deliver my papers at the same time,” he says.

There was also money to be made as a grouse-beater on the fells, as well as washing cars, and, when he was a bit older, he got into labouring and hod-carrying on building sites. Always a strong lad, he also found plenty of work as a pub doorman.

“I was driven and could always find lines of extra income – it’s just the way I am,” he explains.

After graduating in financial accounting from Newcastle University, Stuart became a management accountant for Norwich Union, but quickly realised it didn’t suit his outgoing personality.He returned to university, this time to study sports science at Sunderland, before taking a year out to travel. When he returned, a friend, who worked at Virgin Media, alerted him to a sales job and Stuart decided to give it a go. Despite having no experience in either sales or broadband, he was the top salesman within three months.

“I was just very good at selling. I don’t know why – it just came naturally,” he says. 

“It’s something I think that’s missing in schools. Some kids can be good academically, others can be good at sport. I was good at both, but I was never good enough academically to be a top barrister, or good enough at football to be the next Cristiano Ronaldo. Instead, I’ve made a very good living through sales, and I’d love to go into schools and talk to those kids that fall out of the system, and show them what they can do to make a lot of money.”

A downside for great salespeople is that their employers are often reluctant to promote them into management positions simply because they’re bringing in too much money, so

Stuart started to look beyond Virgin Media for a step up the career ladder.
“I always thought that if I could get people to be like me, I could build a very good sales team,” he reasons.

The first step towards that ambition was joining North Tyneside IT and telephony services company, Activ Technology, as business development manager. 

Then, in 2014, he launched his own social media company, North East Happening, and built up a healthy client base before returning to Activ as sales manager.

It was there that he met his future wife, Georgina, the woman he describes as “my inspiration”. He adopted Georgina’s daughter, Darcie, who’s now 10, and the couple also have a four-year-old son, Holden.

“I’d been meandering through life really but, it all made sense when I met Georgina. It was a lightbulb moment. I suddenly had a little one to look after and it was time to grow up.”

Stuart launched another business, called One Solution, which looked after everything under one roof for business clients, including social media, website, e-commerce, energy, “and all the things that small businesses can get ripped off with”.

It was all going swimmingly until Covid struck in March 2020. The One Solution customer-base was largely pubs and restaurants, and they were hit hard.

Stuart furloughed himself and decided it was time to pursue an ambition he’d always had to play a leading role in a bigger start-up. The ideal opportunity arose when he saw an advertisement for the sales and marketing manager’s position at newly launched YouFibre.

He was interviewed in the garden over Zoom by chief executive, Jeremy Chelot, and they immediately clicked. “It was like talking to a friend, and it all just seemed too good to be true, but Georgina said ‘What’s the worst thing that could happen?’ and persuaded me to go for it.”

Stuart became the company’s first employee, promptly wrote a training manual, and persuaded Durham County Council to allow six outsourced salespeople to carry on working through the pandemic because the business was providing a vital service.

The initial focus was on Peterlee and the first customer was secured in July, 2020, with 30 sales by the end of the first week exceeding all expectations.

“I’ve always said that you should never sell on price but on how good you are. Our product was 12 times faster than any other broadband for the same price, and it just took off,” Stuart recalls.

The company ended 2020 with 250 customers, all in Peterlee, and started 2021 with its first customer in Durham City. By June last year, YouFibre had 1,000 customers – the fastest alternative network company to ever hit that milestone.

Today, Stuart has a team comprising six sales managers, a telesales manager, and 33 salespeople, plus around 60 more who are outsourced. And the expansion is continuing, with 19 sales jobs, including five in the North-East, up for grabs.

“We’re going to continue to grow because we’ve got a service that’s second to none – in both speed and value – and a brilliant team to deliver it. So, come and join us!” he declares.

YouFibre recently passed 10,000 customers across the UK and Stuart is optimistic that ambitious target of 50,000 orders is reachable by the end of the year.

Fishermen may be prone to exaggeration – but YouFibre’s Head of Sales has an impressive track record when it comes to exceeding expectations.

Supporting the Level Up campaign

YouFibre is a partner in The Northern Echo’s Level Up campaign, aimed at securing fairer Government investment for the North East.

Chief executive Jeremy Chelot said: “The Level Up campaign aims to unite the voices of residents and businesses in County Durham that are asking for the things that will make their lives better and ensure they are heard.

“The campaign demands that promises and pledges are more than just headlines and soundbites, and that politicians deliver. Netomnia and YouFibre are fundamentally behind these aims.”

  • Any businesses interested in becoming a partner in the campaign should contact Ryan Fenwick at ryan.fenwick@localiq.co.uk

The Northern Echo: