PRESS RELEASE For immediate release

Leeds, 12th October 2015 Contact: Irina Trentea, aql PR Manager

Email: irina.trentea@uk.aql.com Tel: 07897611412

aql joins Leeds Business Week as a Headline sponsor

For the second year in a row, aql is supporting the UK’s largest Business Week, with over 100 business-focused events taking place in Leeds, from 12th – 16th October 2015. This year, aql is part of the event’s strategic management board alongside Leeds Becket University, Leeds Business School, Vodafone, Vistage, BJSS and Blacks Solicitors LLP. aql will host the opening event of Leeds Business Week, the Leeds City Summit on the 12th of October and will have a presence at all the Yorkshire Mafia planned events throughout the week. Councillor Judith Blake from Leeds City Council, Arif Ahmad, Senior Partner of PwC’s Leeds office, Helen Beachall, General Manager of Simon On The Streets and Richard Flint, CEO Sky Betting and Gaming, will join Dr Adam Beaumont, aql’s founder and CEO for the Leeds City Summit panel focused on Business and Growth. The panel will be run in the style of BBC’s Questions Time and moderated by professor Paul Turner from Leeds Beckett University. The Heathrow Business Summit for SMEs, organised by the Leeds Chamber of Commerce will also be hosted at the aql historical HQ building, on Thursday the 15th October. Dr Adam Beaumont said: “We are delighted to support Leeds Business Week this year at a strategic level as we strive to champion Leeds as a well connected city and an attractive place to invest and do business. Leeds Business Week is a great opportunity to encourage business growth, job creation and promote the city’s digital capabilities as well as the strength of the Northern Powerhouse. ” Geoff Shepherd the Yorkshire Mafia Chairman added: “Leeds Business week is all about bringing people together across the city and beyond to share best practice, gather together to build better business relationships and benefit from each other’s expertise. We have a

Leeds  City  Summit  2014  

strong partnership with aql and we’re delighted to be working closely together to deliver Leeds Business Week 2015. A key event during the week, the Leeds City Summit will be taking place at Salem Chapel, home of aql and the perfect setting for such an event.”

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NOTES TO THE EDITOR

About aql

aql, established in 1998, is a wholesale integrated communications Operator, Regulated by Ofcom, based in Leeds. It provides mobile messaging, data, text messaging and information security services to the public and private sector, including many FTSE 100 companies. aql’s wholesale division is one of the UK’s largest IP Telephony fixed line operators. aql is responsible for the voice services and numbering on over 80 million numbers for over 20 UK ISP’s, routes over 1 million SMS text messages per day and has enabled over 40 UK Mobile brands. The UK Regulator recognizes aql as a significant market force in fixed and mobile services. aql also own and operate a significant national data network and secure datacentre sites within the UK. With a large presence both in London and also significant out-of-London points of presence, this allows aql to operate a heavily interconnected network with full geographic resilience.