People
Founder and CEO Luke Chapman has big plans for the future of Earth Broadband
Published: May 31, 2023 | Updated: 6th September 2023
“Every month we use our customers’ money for good, planting five trees and removing a pound of plastic from the ocean.”
It’s a simple but effective pitch from Luke Chapman, Founder and CEO of Earth Broadband – a clear, measurable way to make a difference.
The Ringwood business has been running for just over a year now, with self-confessed tech geek Luke at the helm.
“For Christmas, I wouldn’t be having a PlayStation, I’d be getting a computer, taking it apart and rebuilding it with new processors and hard drives.
“At the age of 13 I was learning how to code – there aren’t many 13-year-olds like that.
“It was all sparked by robots and just thinking, ‘how on earth do they work?’ And when you look into it, it’s all code.
“Following my love of tech and my geeky vibes allowed me to find a gap in the market, and I set up Earth Broadband – the UK’s first green broadband provider.”
Recognising a growing audience of people who shared his passion for climate action, Luke set to work on a broadband package which could challenge the major players while offering customers a means to help the planet.
He had already seen encouraging signs from the energy sector, where environmentally conscious consumers like himself were increasingly turning towards up-and-coming green disruptors and remaining loyal to those brands year after year.
It’s one of many ways in which Luke and his team are looking to set themselves apart from the ‘dinosaurs’ of the industry.
“If you go to sign up to a broadband deal, there’s so much complexity with all these different speeds and add-ons – no one actually gets it.
“We’ve entered the market to make broadband easier, fairer and greener.
“We’re looking to build a strong community of customers who want that greener alternative and want to stay with us for life.”
A big part of that community-building comes in the form of monthly climate updates sent out to customers which detail exactly how their pounds and pennies are being put to good use.
Visit any of the company’s social media pages and you’ll find a handpicked selection of stories from these updates, including a recent piece on reforestation efforts in Southeast Asia to protect orangutan habitats from the threat of palm oil harvesting.
They’re also gearing up to launch an app for iOS and Android next month, which will offer users a visual representation of their climate impact in the form of a virtual forest and ocean.
The global scope of these projects is impressive, and as you might expect, it involves collaboration with a variety of international charities – each one vetted by the company to ensure that money is going to the right places.
“We make donations to organisations through our monthly subscriptions from customers”, said Luke.
“Together with local communities we’re saving animals, restoring ecosystems, and planting trees on a massive scale.”
As well as contributing to causes around the world, there’s also a chance for the staff back home to get hands on with some small-scale reforestation efforts right here in Hampshire.
Every Monday afternoon, Luke and the team of 10 head out of the office and, depending on the time of year, either plant some trees or do some weeding to make sure their saplings are getting the sunlight they need.
It’s a great way, he said, to engage on their doorstep with the work they’re helping to fund around the world.
But as CEO, Luke isn’t just in the business of growing trees.
With a core team established and a host of experienced board members and investors on his side, he’s now hoping to grow the company too as part of an ambitious vision for the future of Earth Broadband.
“It’s not been easy”, said Luke. “We’ve had a lot of hurdles, but we’ve come out really strong.
“The plan originally was to get to a certain number of customers, pause, and have a look at our operation to make sure we can scale and won’t have any complications.
“We’re now at the stage where we’ve done all the testing, we’ve got a great community of customers, and we’re ready to take broadband to the next level.
“We’re going to be expanding massively, so over the next few months those 10 employees will be going up a lot.”
With the company eyeing big growth, it only makes sense that they’re also looking to reach out to more customers – particularly in the corporate sphere.
“At the moment our community is mainly domestic, but over the next few months we’re ramping up and going B2B.
“It’s on our to-do list because businesses have Net Zero goals and are more conscious than ever of how environmentally friendly they are.
“As the only green broadband provider, we feel that our proposition is going to be very appealing to them.
“But I’m a big believer in mastering something first before doing lots of other things, so watch this space and we’ll be getting lots of businesses signed up over the next few months.”
Alongside the push for B2B, Luke is keen to provide companies with accurate numbers and measurable impacts for their climate plans and ESG reports.
After all, he has his own targets for Earth – to plant 500,000 trees and remove 100,000 pounds of plastic from the ocean every month by 2025 – which they’re currently on track to achieve.
Just seven years ago, the prospect of one day making this kind of impact at the head of his own business would have seemed unthinkable.
“I’m quite transparent when I tell people about my story”, said Luke.
“If I rewind to when I was back in school – I just couldn’t hack it. I was thrown out and I felt like I’d failed.
“A lot of people are sitting their exams right now and some of them aren’t going to get the grades they wanted.
“I don’t want people to think just because they were kicked out of school, or didn’t get the results they hoped for, that they can’t do anything – because they can.
“I want people to see my story and think, ‘actually, that business idea that I had? Let’s start it today, let’s do something with it’.”
