Landways, a provider of integrated in-building digital and power infrastructure, has hired five senior executives to its leadership team.
The announcement follows significant investment from Newlight Partners and existing investor Columbia Capital.
Steve Robertson (pictured) joins as its latest non-executive board member, Meri Braziel as chief commercial officer, Ruth Stafford as chief financial officer, Stephen Chivers as project director and Avik Datta as technology director.
Robertson has nearly 40 years’ experience working in telecommunications, technology and infrastructure. He has operated at board level for more than 25 years, including 14 years as a CEO.
His experience includes significant international assignments, including the design, construction and operation of both BT’s Global Network and COLT’s pan-European network. He was also responsible for the operation of BT’s UK network and was the founding CEO of Openreach, where he successfully established the first example of the groundbreaking market model of functional separation. This was followed by the successful establishment of Truphone as a hi-tech global mobile operator and, later, as CEO of Thames Water.
Braziel began her career with Sprint International as finance manager of EMEA. She has held several managing director and CEO roles of European technology companies including PSINet, Skyware Radio Systems and Keycom plc. She was most recently COO and CCO at Glide, a specialist internet service provider, between 2017 and 2022.
She is also a co-founder of WiTT, the Women in Telecom and Technology networking group, and serves as a trustee of Unipol Student Housing as well as chairing its IT and communications committee.
Stafford has held chief finance roles in private equity-backed companies in industries such as travel, healthcare, professional services and SaaS.
Chivers has held director positions at Cable and Wireless, Kelly Group, Lattice/Thames JV and Fujitsu Telecommunication, driving strategic growth, competitive positioning, and operational performance. He will lead the company’s delivery of projects in the UK and Europe and will have responsibility for the procurement of suppliers, contractors, and overall health and safety.
Datta spent 20 years at Vodafone Group Services in various engineering, strategy and business development roles. He then spent six years at Cable & Wireless and its parent Liberty Latin America LLC as CTO and mobile operations director for the Caribbean and Latin America region, returning to the UK in 2020.
“As Landways enters the next stage of its growth plans, we are incredibly excited and extremely grateful to have brought such a wealth of experience to our leadership team,” said Chris Smedley, CEO.
“With their extensive knowledge, expansive network, and undeniable passion, we are ready to take our unique ‘Digital and Power Infrastructure-as-a -Service’ model to new heights.”