The CEO of Daisy Communications has left following the Lancashire firm’s merger with Virgin Media O2, which created a £1.4 billion revenue company.
Dave McGinn joined the Nelson-based firm in 2009 as MD of Daisy Distribution and was named CEO of Daisy Communications in April 2016.
Daisy founder Matthew Riley – who chairs O2 Daisy was included in BusinessCloud’s 2025 Northern Leaders list – paid tribute to ‘crafty Cockney’ McGinn in a LinkedIn post.
“It’s Dave McGinn’s last day with Daisy today,” he wrote.
“When I first met Dave back in 2009, he was a ‘crafty Cockney’ who half the team up North couldn’t understand! But it didn’t take long for everyone to realise he was the real deal.
“From day one, Dave was a man of his word. When he said he was going to do something, he did it. We even created a special Ronseal Trophy for him because, just like the slogan, he ‘does exactly what it says on the tin’.
“Sometimes I even questioned whether what he promised was possible. but he always delivered. And I appreciate the effort and commitment that went on behind the scenes to make that happen.
“When Dave joined us 16 years ago, Daisy was a much smaller business which had just been listed on AIM.
“He made it his mission to deliver better customer service, strengthen supplier relationships, and invest in our people. Sixteen years later, Daisy is now the UK’s largest privately owned provider of business communications and IT services, with a 4.7 Trustpilot score and a culture that reflects Dave’s influence and leadership.
“It’s fair to say that Dave has achieved a huge amount and will be truly missed by me and everyone who’s worked under his guidance.
“I wish him nothing but the best for whatever comes next, though it looks like he’s keeping busy training for an ultra-marathon swim and a roller boot marathon! Bonkers, but why not?!
“Dave, it’s been a blast. From everyone here at Daisy, I wish you all the best. Never change.”
In May Virgin Media O2 and Daisy Group announced plans to merge their direct B2B operations, placing it second behind only BT in the UK telecommunications market in terms of size.
Riley, who appeared as a judge in the early days of TV’s The Apprentice, told BusinessCloud at the time that the deal ‘blows any previous deals out of the water’.
He continued: “I think it’s testament to the people who live and work in and around Lancashire, especially David McGinn.
“We’ve always been really lucky to get great people who come and work with us and I’m a great believer in, if you can build, you don’t have to have the knowledge, you can learn it.
“You can come in with no tech knowledge and within a year, you can get trained up and get some new skills and develop. I think that’s really important.”
The combined entity has annual pro forma revenues of around £1.4bn, with Daisy Group holding a 30% stake. The company is chaired by Riley, with Jo Bertram, managing director of Virgin Media O2 Business, serving as CEO.
The company serves the communications and IT needs of hundreds of thousands of UK businesses – small offices, SMEs, large enterprises and public sector organisations, as well as indirect partners.
Virgin Media O2’s fibre and mobile infrastructure has been combined with Daisy’s end-to-end IT and sales management platforms and customer service.
Services include cloud-based communications tools, 5G Private Networks, IoT connectivity, security solutions and AI-powered products, such as O2 Motion, catering to a broad mix of new and existing customers.