Professor Adam Beaumont (born August 1972) is a businessman,

angel investor An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital for a business or businesses start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or owners ...

, trustee and digital entrepreneur. He is the CEO of telecommunications provider aql, a visiting professor of cyber security at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

and the Honorary Consul of the

Republic of Estonia A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

to the Northern Powerhouse and the

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Early life and education

Beaumont was state educated. He was born in Stockport, England. He has a PhD in Physical Chemistry and a BSc in Colour and Polymer Chemistry from the University of Leeds.

Career

After completing his PhD, Beaumont began his career at age 24 with a three-year stint as the University of Leeds' youngest lecturer in physical chemistry, including

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...

and

thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed by the four laws of the ...

. He then spent some time in secure mobile communications for the Defence Evaluation Research Agency (DERA), an agency of the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. Beaumont was involved in building the agency's first cyber teams. Beaumont founded telecommunications platform company aql in 1998, and is the company's CEO. In 2008, he purchased the Salem Chapel, a 1791 Grade II listed building in the heart of Leeds. Over several years, he restored the building and turned it into the main data hub in the North. The restored chapel houses aql's head office, and has hosted the launch of government initiatives, including the Northern Powerhouse concept and the first Northern Powerhouse Partnership report. He is a founder and board member of IXLeeds, the UK’s first and only fully independent

internet exchange Internet exchange points (IXes or IXPs) are common grounds of IP networking, allowing participant Internet service providers (ISPs) to exchange data destined for their respective networks. IXPs are generally located at places with preexisting ...

outside London. In 2015, Beaumont founded not-for-profit investment platform NorthInvest. As an angel investor, he invests between £20,000 and £400,000 in early-stage tech companies, such as CBiS Education, Deekit, ID Health, Memento VR, Gravity Industries, handi and jet-drone company hydra. Northinvest raised over £2m for startups in Q1 2020 and over £9m across that year. After aql bought

-based communications provider BlueWave Communications in 2015, Beaumont became the company's CEO. Beaumont is active overseas, leading the founding delegation to create UK:Estonia TechLink. More recently he led a delegation of northern business leaders on an April 2017 trade mission to San Francisco as part of the government's Northern Powerhouse initiative. In January 2018, he helped launch Transport for the North's Strategic Transport Plan to transform transportation in the North of England over the next 30 years.

Honours and other endeavours

Beaumont was appointed a visiting professor of cyber security at the University of Leeds in October 2017. He is also a governor of

Leeds City College Leeds City College is the largest further education establishment in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England with around 26,000 students, 2,300 staff, with an annual turnover of £78 million.

. He is a patron o
Leeds Community Foundation
and the major supporter o
Child friendly Leeds
In June 2017, Beaumont was appointed as a Trustee of the

Eden Project The Eden Project ( kw, Edenva) is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, England, UK. The project is located in a reclaimed china clay pit, located from the town of St Blazey and from the larger town of St Austell.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS E ...

. He is also a Non Executive Director of the Eden Project International Board - responsible for Eden projects in China, Ireland, Dubai, US. He is a key driver of Eden Project North, Beaumont was named International Director of the Year 2017 for Yorkshire and the North East by the

Institute of Directors The Institute of Directors (IoD) is a British professional organisation for company directors, senior business leaders and entrepreneurs. It is the UK's longest running organisation for professional leaders, having been founded in 1903 and incor ...

. He was named Director of the Year for Innovation in 2018. He was named International Director of the Year in 2019. He was named as a Maserati 100 Entrepreneur in 2019. He was appointed to the board of the

Leeds City Region The Leeds City Region is a local enterprise partnership city region located in West Yorkshire, England. Prior to the West Yorkshire devolution deal, the partnership covered parts of South and North Yorkshire. According to the Office for National ...

Enterprise Partnership (LEP) in 2017. He was named Honorary Consul of the

to the Northern Powerhouse and the Isle of Man in April 2018. He is also the owner of

Porkuni Porkuni (german: Borckholm) is a village in Tapa Parish, Lääne-Viru County, in northern Estonia. The settlement is located around the Lake Porkuni, which is the source of the Valgejõgi River. In 1944, the Battle of Porkuni was fought in the ...

Manor managed b
Porkuni Mois OÜ
Beaumont joined the UK5G Advisory Board in March 2018. His mobile network BlueWave received permissions to operate 5G in the Isle of Man A regular keynote speaker on topics including cyber security and

mobile security Mobile security, or mobile device security, is the protection of smartphones, tablets, and laptops from threats associated with wireless computing. It has become increasingly important in mobile computing. The security of personal and business ...

, Beaumont delivered the opening address at the

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

leg of the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was Du ...

's prestigious Pitch@Palace entrepreneurship competition in February 2018. In April, he gave two talks at CYBERUK 2018, the National Cyber Security Centre's (NCSC) annual flagship conference. He is part of

's team that successfully bid on a place on

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

's (MIT) two-year Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme (REAP). In 2018 he created funded the
Beaumont Awards
- an award for outstanding final year research which has the potential to positively impact society, the winners each receiving a medal inspired by the achievements in research-led public education by Michael Faraday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaumont, Adam Living people 1972 births Alumni of the University of Leeds Businesspeople from Leeds 21st-century English businesspeople Technology company founders British technology company founders