TAXPAYER-OWNED utility JT now runs telecoms services in every school, hospital, prison and government building in the three Crown Dependencies following its purchase of Manx Telecom for a reported £500m.
Reflecting on private-equity backed deal, which gives JT a 45% stake in the Isle of Man telco, Daragh McDermott – who recently stood down as JT’s chief executive – told a Chamber of Commerce lunch at the Royal Yacht Hotel that the combined business now had a “platform for significant growth”.
Mr McDermott told the audience of business leaders that JT had initially pursued the purchase – he described it as an “integration” and not a “takeover” – on its own but that had fallen through.
It then decided to team up with the main bidder it was up against – Jersey-based CVC Capital Partners – to complete the purchase of Manx Telecom Group, which went through in May.
“Hats off to Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham, who told us to ‘go for it’ when we first shared plans of the acquisition with ministers,” said Mr McDermott. “As he said ‘if you’re not moving forwards, you’re going backwards’.”
Reflecting on his 26 years at JT, the last five as chief executive, Mr McDermott told Chamber that JT had faced challenges, including being fined tens of thousands of pounds when 999 services failed and having to remove Chinese-built equipment that the UK had deemed a threat to security.
However, he also highlighted many successes, including the rollout of fibre connectivity to every property in Jersey in 2021, installing an Ericsson-powered 5G network, and the recent Manx Telecom deal.
He added that JT had also reduced its headcount by 25% between 2022 and 2025, which had been done in a “sensitive, supportive and transparent” way.
Giving more details of the Manx deal, Mr McDermott said that JT brought its “network and operational excellence” to the table while Manx’s strengths included its commercial offering, principally in the form of an ‘Internet of Things’ business and a ‘managed services’ firm called Synapse 360.
With Synapse now owned by JT and its investing partner, the Jersey-led group is now responsible for some major IT contracts, with clients including Lloyd’s of London, Guy’s and St Thomas’s hospitals, and London Luton Airport, as well as the governments of the Isle of Man and Guernsey.
He added that JT was about to move one of its three ‘core networks’ from Jersey to the Isle of Man.
Explaining why he had decided to step down now, the 53-year-old said that he had always felt that five years as chief executive was the right period and it was now time for someone else to lead the integration of the new pan-island group.
Long-standing telecoms’ executive Brian Fitzpatrick is now JT’s interim chief executive.
