History of Toob Broadband
How a Southampton fibre launch grew into a much wider broadband business.
The milestones that shaped Toob
Two former Vodafone directors start Toob
Nick Parbutt and Mike Banwell founded the business around affordable full-fibre broadband. Its headquarters would be in Portsmouth, while Southampton became the first city chosen for its own network.
Southampton becomes the launch city
In May, Toob announced a planned £50 million network investment, targeting more than 100,000 premises in Southampton by the end of 2021. Amber’s National Digital Infrastructure Fund backed the rollout. Its first customer was connected later in 2019.
- 900Mbps
- Average download and upload speeds advertised
- £25
- Monthly residential launch price
- FTTP
- Fibre directly to the property
The 2019 offer, rather than a current deal. The rollout figure above was a target announced at the time.
The build moves beyond Southampton
Toob began network construction in Camberley. This was an expansion of its own infrastructure, taking the business beyond its original city.
CityFibre opens a second route to growth
The CityFibre partnership allowed Toob to sell broadband over another operator’s fibre. Portsmouth became an early example, giving Toob a way to reach customers without building every local connection itself.
Ares joins the funding story
In May, Ares-managed funds committed £160 million in debt financing, with scope to increase the facility to £300 million over time. Existing investor Amber-backed funds also committed further equity.
The original £25 proposition changes
Toob announced that its 900Mbps price would rise to £29 for new and rolling contracts from May. Existing fixed-term customers retained their agreed £25 price until their contract ended.
The retail footprint reaches further
Expansion through CityFibre took the service into more parts of England and Scotland. Toob’s reach increasingly reflected a combination of its southern own-build network and wholesale access elsewhere.
More speed tiers, and a different pricing policy
April brought home300, home600 and home2300, plus a Wi-Fi 7 router. Toob also announced £2 annual increases for new contracts, beginning in April 2027, changing its earlier no-in-contract-rise approach.
Why the CityFibre deal mattered
Build its own network
Toob invests in the infrastructure and sells connections across its own footprint, principally in southern England.
Use CityFibre’s network
Toob supplies the retail service using CityFibre infrastructure. It can enter additional locations without first constructing every street.
The distinction explains how a provider associated with Southampton could expand much further afield. A new Toob sales area did not necessarily mean a new Toob-built network.
For me, 2022 is the turning point in this history. Before that, growth depended on extending the physical build. The partnership gave Toob another way to grow its customer base.
Customer milestones along the way
- 2022
- 10,000customers reached
- June 2024
- 50,000customers reached
- September 2025
- 100,000customers reached
- September 2026
- 140,000customers reported
Selected rounded milestones reported by Toob. Later figures include customers on both its own network and CityFibre, rather than only its own-build connections. These are dated announcements, not a live total.
In September 2026, Toob also reported more than 300,000 homes passed on its own network. That measures network reach. It cannot be compared directly with the company-wide customer total to calculate take-up.
The funding changes in 2026
INPP steps back
International Public Partnerships said it would provide no further capital. Subject to final terms, its equity interest, carried at £24.1 million at the end of 2025, would transfer to debt holders for a nominal amount.
Ares adds investment
Toob announced follow-on investment from Ares Infrastructure Debt, alongside Kevin Dean’s appointment as Executive Chairman and Sarah Herriman’s as CFO. It said it was EBITDA positive and working towards positive cash flow.
These announcements mark a shift from funding the rollout to sustaining the business built around it. EBITDA positivity does not establish that all investment, financing costs and cash requirements are covered.
Our separate report on INPP’s Toob investment write-down covers the investor decision in more detail.
What Toob’s history tells us
Toob began with a simple residential offer and a local construction programme. Its later history adds wholesale partnerships, a broader product range and changes to both pricing and financing.
That makes the old £25 launch story useful background, rather than a description of today’s contract. For the current service, see our Toob Broadband review. The wider move towards fibre is covered in our history of broadband.
Hasnaat MahmoodFindCheapBroadband
Key sources
- Origins and early rollout: Toob’s company timeline and May 2019 Southampton announcement.
- Expansion and customer milestones: Toob’s CityFibre expansion, June 2024 update and September 2025 update.
- Earlier funding: Toob’s May 2023 Ares and Amber announcement.
- Offer changes: Toob’s April 2024 price announcement and April 2026 product and pricing refresh.
- 2026 financing: INPP’s 17 August RNS and Toob’s 11 September Ares investment update.