Dorset-based Wessex Internet has been named a 2026 Best of British Business, recognising its work bringing full fibre broadband to some of the South West’s hardest-to-reach rural communities.
The recognition from The Independent and Business Reporter comes as the independent broadband provider marks 16 years since it was founded by the late James Gibson Fleming MBE, a Dorset farmer whose own difficulties obtaining an affordable broadband connection led him to establish the company in 2010.
Wessex Internet has since connected more than 60,000 properties and laid over 7,700km of full fibre cable across Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire. It now employs around 350 people.
Much of the network is built across farmland rather than along roads, with routes planned in consultation with landowners to accommodate crop cycles, livestock, waterways and other geographical constraints. Projects have included taking fibre beneath a river and connecting the historic Old Wardour Castle in Wiltshire, where the company worked alongside an archaeologist during installation.
Wessex Internet has recently secured £50 million in funding from the National Wealth Fund, alongside £72 million across four government Project Gigabit contracts, to support further expansion of its rural network.
Its Community Hub initiative also provides selected local organisations within its build areas with broadband for £1 a month. The company says it has invested more than £350,000 in rural charities and community projects to date.
Among those benefiting is the Big Yellow Bus Garden Project, a volunteer-run community garden in Shillingstone which previously had no affordable broadband connection.
Spokesperson Paul Williams said: ‘The whole process was completed within a day and when they left it was like they’d never been there before. We were left with a game changing, reliable and fast internet connection that also gave us an essential phone line. We host many schools and the internet access allows us to instantly research topics that spring up during their visits.’
The latest recognition follows 15 industry awards received by Wessex Internet over the past 16 years, including Best Customer Loyalty at the 2025 ISPA Awards, Best UK Rural Enterprise at the 2024 Countryside Alliance Awards and UK Fibre Provider of the Year in 2023.
The company says it will continue expanding its network across the South West, focusing on rural communities where reliable high-speed broadband remains difficult to access.
