Serial entrepreneur Gavin Wheeldon has unveiled his target to reach one billion global users.
He’s the CEO of Purple, a global leader in digital connectivity, and was part of a stellar line-up of speakers at BusinessCloud’s FUEL Manchester 2025 event on Thursday.
FUEL is two events in one, beginning with a business breakfast featuring three panel discussions and finishing with a series of exclusive, invite-only masterclasses for a cohort of exciting startups.
No.1 Circle Square, in Manchester, hosted FUEL, which was sponsored by growing accountancy firm S&W; GM Business Growth Hub; and Bruntwood SciTech.
Wheeldon was joined on the final panel by Steve Oliver, CEO of MusicMagpie, and Hayley Roberts, CEO of Distology.
(L-R) Janine Smith, director, GM Business Growth Hub; Lisa Morton, CEO & founder, Roland Dransfield; Gary Fenemore, tax director, S&W; and Jack Maher, head of flexible workspace, Bruntwood SciTech
Explaining his vision, Wheeldon said: “I want to create a single, unified WiFi network all over the world that’s secure, seamless and everywhere. I want billions and billions of users every day on it.”
Purple’s WiFi has already topped 500m users and 80,000 venues, including cities, airports and stadiums like the $5.5bn SoFi Stadium, which has staged the Super Bowl.
Purple recently partnered with Newcastle City Council to deliver an extensive city-wide Wi-Fi network for residents, students and visitors.
“What we’re now doing is creating density in the city,” he said. “Newcastle have gone first – completely secure network all around the city centre but the businesses are joining in as well.”
The serial entrepreneur also highlighted the 800 per cent increase McDonald’s had witnessed for its loyalty MyMacca app after partnering with Purple.
Hayley Roberts has clocked up more than 10 years at the helm of cyber security distributor Distology and explained her mindset for growth.
“Just keep going,” she said. “Just grow and grow and keep expanding your networks and expanding the horizons constantly.
“Ultimately, we’re aiming for more domination across Europe and growth with people.”
FUEL Manchester cohort
Steve Oliver is the CEO of MusicMagpie and saw his first business Music Zone go into administration in 2007 when The Bank of Ireland called its debts in without notice.
It meant Oliver went from owning a third of a £40m business to being left with nothing inside 18 months.
“It’s all part of the learning curve of life,” he said. “You have to take those lessons and move forward with them on a personal and professional level.
“Alastair Campbell talks about ‘persevilience’ (blending perseverance and resilience) and it’s something I speak about when I chair the Stockport Economic Alliance.
“Everybody perceives when you run a business it’s all glamorous and you’re on a boat and all that kind of stuff.
“The job of an entrepreneur is to be a radiator, not a drain, and to find solutions to the world’s problems, not grumble about the problems and be a drain on society.”
Jack Maher is the head of flexible workspace at Bruntwood SciTech and he told the 90-strong audience the property giant had created a cohort specifically for female founders.
He said: “It’s a space for them to get together, collaborate, share ideas, share what’s gone wrong, what’s going right.
“Effectively we’ve created a space purely for female founders where they can feel secure, share ideas and be open and get the support that they want in business.
“It’s quite male dominated running businesses and we wanted to change that dynamic and create a space that women felt comfortable in.”
The other speakers were Janine Smith, director, GM Business Growth Hub; Lisa Morton, CEO, Roland Dransfield; Gary Fenemore, tax director, S&W; Nicola Weedall, founder & CEO, Hydr; Helen Oldham, co-founder, Lifted Ventures; Billy Gilchrist, business innovation advisor/GenAI expert, Hopwood Hall College; and Chris Hill, CEO, Northcoders.
In the second part of the event, a cohort of 25 startups received expert advice in a series of masterclasses.
The four themes were raising funding; growth planning; people & performance; and technology.
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