In 2003 Carl Churchill, the 25-year-old Director of Hants-based ISP murphx Innovative Solutions, was hotly tipped as a future business star, and true to form he has emerged as a leading light in the channel. Here's the story behind one of the industry's most progressive personalities and the company he steers.

Early in 1999 Richard and Nicki Jay set up Freecall UK, one of the first free ISPs, and generated over 180,000 subscribers in just four weeks. Then a young dynamic developer who was running a traditional B2B ISP based in Southampton, Ben Murphy, joined Freecall and spent the following nine months, day and night, single-handedly architecting, developing and building the Freecall systems. It quickly became apparent that the systems could revolutionise the operation of any ISP, allowing businesses to focus on marketing and selling their services without having to concern themselves with infrastructure operation. A system like this was set to be the start of the next Internet revolution, and in 2001 murphx Innovative Solutions was born, providing fully automated virtual ISP solutions.

Rising star Carl Churchill had been working with the Jays and Murphy for two years prior to joining forces with them in 2003. "I saw a lot of opportunity in the model, and with the right focus and development I believed the business could be immensely successful," he said. "The universal objective was to ‘build and grow however necessary'. I worked to define the proposition, grow the customer base and acquire strategically important businesses or customer bases. In 2003 the business was turning over about £200,000. We're on target for £20 million in our 09/10 financial year - 10,000 per cent growth in six years isn't bad!"

Churchill's entrepreneurial potential was highlighted when in 2003 he was tipped by Sunday Times Rich List author Philip Beresford as the most likely young British millionaire of the future. The Rich List 2020 comprised 20 promising under-21s expected to amass a considerable fortune. "I took top spot with an expected personal net worth of £100 million by 2020. Other people in the list included Keira Knightly, Jamie Bell and Wayne Rooney," commented Churchill. "Even then at the age of 19 I had a business turning over £1 million with some impressive customers including the NHS and the Police Federation. I had also successfully exited a telecoms business in 2001."

Although set up in 2001, murphx only ventured into the communications channel in 2005/2006. Previous to that the company was focused on wholesale dial-up services and virtual ISP solutions, which provided a relatively limited opportunity both for murphx and its customers. "We had an understanding of the market having been the customer in our previous businesses, but in terms of selling via the channel it was a challenge," stated Churchill. "The proposition has been shaped around our experiences and customer feedback since our initial launch into the channel."

The influencing factors shaping murphx's channel strategy are based upon the evolution of next generation services and beyond. "We've drawn a number of lines in the sand in terms of our commitment to innovation and supporting our customers with leading services. This year alone we've announced a new dark fibre network, access to BT's 21CN for broadband services and a new major point of presence in Telehouse East, Docklands, London," added Churchill.

He reiterated that murphx will always be a business that is 100 per cent focused on wholesale services. "Our channel is about developing services that allow our partners to capitalise on the growing convergence opportunity, not just in the UK, but also in other European countries," affirmed Churchill. "If the proposition is right then we will grow our market share organically, but I fully intend to supplement this with additional acquisitions on a larger scale than we have previously performed. We will become the dominant European connectivity aggregator and I will not stop until we have conquered this aim. When your success is based upon the evolution of technology, the risk is always that you could miss the boat when your attention is elsewhere. I'm confident even with this challenge in mind that we have the right people in our business to drive our growth and develop on emerging opportunities within the market."

Churchill cited ‘innovation' as being key to the future success of the business, while reiterating the importance of ongoing investment in product development. "We completed the user acceptance trials for our new bonded services in July and are now commencing live launch. This service allows our partners to bond multiple carrier circuits - BT IP Stream, CW LLU and Tiscali LLU - into a single connection, delivering the ultimate resilient connection," commented Churchill.

"We have our Annex M product launching over the next month, which delivers up to 16MB download and 2.5MB upload. This service is perfect for organisations that wish to increase the volume of IP voice channels over a single connection, as well as giving people the opportunity to stream HD video. The service will be available to over 55 per cent of the UK and has already been well received. We're also working on a number of exciting new services including VoiceStream 2 and our bi-directional QoS application," he added.

Churchill said that the services derived from 21st century network deployments by murphx's suppliers represent another key near-term opportunity, as well as some of the company's longer-term opportunities. "We took the decision to be an early adopter but not the guinea pig. We don't want our customers to be the carrier's test bed while the services are in business critical use," stated Churchill. "21st century networks give our customers access to higher bandwidth solutions to aid in the support of convergent applications such as VoIP and videoconferencing. When run in parallel with murphx's proprietary QoS applications, the solutions and opportunity become compelling."

From a headline perspective murphx's long-term aim is to be in six European countries by 2012, offering a truly Pan-European wholesale connectivity proposition. Churchill said: "There's yet to be a successful carrier that can deliver a true wholesale proposition through a single interface. Our partners have a single relationship, single interface and a single support mechanism giving them the ability to easily capitalise on European opportunities and deliver competitive services outside of their home country."

Looking ahead to next year, Churchill would like to see the 2010-11 financial year finish at around £35 million. "While ambitious, I don't think it's unachievable as we have a number of major opportunities which are progressing well that will allow us to achieve this target in a shorter time frame. We are confident that we have built a solid foundation both in terms of network and team to continue to support this level of growth for many years to come."

Churchill, the embodiment of vision and drive, gets up every morning looking forward to the day ahead with a rare relish: "I love what we're doing, where we are going and looking at the live performance monitoring in my office to see the growth we're generating," he stated. "The single biggest thing I love about my job and the industry we're in is the variety of requirements and opportunities we're presented with. There's never a day like the one previous. I would go mad in such a job. I am passionate and determined to create and develop innovative businesses that service an existing demand, while identifying potential growth opportunities, acquisitions and new market sectors."

With rapid business expansion a top priority and ambitious growth targets the order of the day, Churchill could well be on track to fulfil his potential as a young British millionaire of the future, topping the Sunday Times Rich List Rich List 2020 as predicted back in 2003. He commented: "I've still got 11 years and a whole load of opportunities and ideas. Come back to me in 2015 and I'll give you an update!"