Board of Directors

Peter Bamford Non-Executive Chairman

Peter Bamford is non-executive chairman of Six Degrees Group. Peter has a prestigious track record of leadership in fast-growing companies and significant merger and acquisition (M&A) experience. He is currently chairman of SuperGroup Plc, one of the UK’s fastest growing international branded clothing companies which owns the Superdry and Cult brands.

Peter was a board director of Vodafone between 1998 and 2006, during which time he served as managing director of Vodafone Distribution, chief executive of Vodafone UK, regional chief executive, Northern Europe, Middle East and Africa, and group chief marketing officer. Under his stewardship, Vodafone became one of the world’s leading brand names.

Prior to Vodafone, Peter was managing director of WH Smith Retail. Peter also currently serves as chairman of MCPS-PRS Alliance Limited (known as PRS for Music) for Music and as non-executive director of Rentokil Initial plc.

Steve Maine
 Non-Executive Deputy Chairman

Steve Maine is non-executive Deputy Chairman of Six Degrees Group.

He was latterly Chief Executive of Solaris Mobile, a joint-venture established by Eutelsat and SES Astra, two world class satellite operators, to open up the market for providing TV, radio and broadband data services direct to mobile phones, PDAs, lap-tops and vehicles all over Europe. Previously, Steve was Chief Executive of Kingston Communications plc, which he took from 100% ownership by a local authority to an established position in the FTSE 250.

Prior to Kingston Communications, Steve worked in BT plc, principally in the fields of satellite and video communications, developing new satellite market services, undertaking early development work in multimedia communications and eventually managing all of the group’s activities in these areas. He also previously served as Deputy Chairman of SpiriTel plc where he worked with many of the management team that now run Six Degrees Group.

Steve was formerly a Non-Executive Director of SMG plc which owned and operated the Scottish and Grampian TV licences, Virgin Radio, the Pearl & Dean cinema advertising business and Primesite, a bill-board advertising business. He also occupied the posts of Chairman of CBI Regional Council, Yorkshire & Humber, and Non-executive Director of Urban Regeneration Company in Hull.

Torquil Macnaughton 
Non-Executive Director

Torquil is a non-executive director at Six Degrees Group and is a founding Partner of Penta Capital. Penta Capital is the private equity backer of Six Degrees Group having previously been a major investor in SpiriTel plc. Torquil had previously been an Investment Executive with the private equity team at The Royal Bank of Scotland. Torquil qualified as a corporate lawyer after obtaining degrees from the Universities of St Andrews and Aberdeen.

Steven Scott 
Non-Executive Director

Steven is a non-executive director at Six Degrees Group and is a founding Partner of Penta Capital. Penta Capital is the private equity backer of Six Degrees Group having previously been a major investor in SpiriTel plc. Steven was formally a Director in the private equity division of The Royal Bank of Scotland. As well as transacting, his focus is on fundraising and investor relations. He is a Chartered Accountant having trained with Arthur Andersen after graduating from the University of Glasgow.

Alastair Mills CEO

Alastair is chief executive officer at Six Degrees Group. Previously he was CEO of SpiriTel Plc, a position he held from 2005 to 2010. His appointment to that post, aged 32, made him one of the youngest CEOs of a UK-listed company. SpiriTel was backed by Penta Capital and sold to Daisy Plc for £37m in November 2010. Prior to SpiriTel, Alastair worked at Telewest and KPMG.



Alastair formed Six Degrees Group in 2011, backed again by Penta Capital, with the intention of capitalising on the growth of managed data services and cloud convergence. His senior management team from SpiriTel has joined him at Six Degrees Group where several new additions give the team a strong blend of skills and experience.



Alastair is a regular speaker at industry events and in 2009 he won the prestigious National Comms Business Entrepreneur of the Year award. In 2010 Alastair was selected as one of the ‘Global Forty under Forty’ in the telecoms industry; prior to that, in 2008, he was named London’s Young Entrepreneur of the year by Ernst & Young.



Alastair is an ambassador for the charity HOPEHIV, whom Six Degrees Group supports, and in his spare time he is happiest when spending time with his family on remote Canadian lakes or French ski slopes.

Ronnie Smith CFO

Ronnie is chief finance officer at Six Degrees Group. Prior to holding this post he was CFO at Spiritel plc, a position he held from 2006 to 2010. His appointment by SpiriTel brought significant M&A experience that was essential for executing their buy and build strategy.

Ronnie qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1988 with Arthur Young (now Ernst & Young) following graduation from The University of Glasgow. Ronnie has held a variety of finance roles in a number of listed and private equity backed UK and US businesses, including Sigma Aldrich Inc., ICN Biomedicals Inc., The Ritchie Group Plc and The Rope Company Group Limited. His experience covers a range of sectors including manufacturing, bioscience, distribution and telecoms. Ronnie has worked in a number of pan-European roles that have involved cross-border M&A.


On leaving SpiriTel plc in November 2010, Ronnie teamed up again with Alastair Mills to raise private equity and bank funding to complete the core acquisitions that launched Six Degrees Group. Ronnie was a finalist in Accountancy Age “Growing Business FD of the Year” in 2008. A Scotsman, Ronnie now lives on the south coast where he is a season ticket holder at Brighton and Hove Albion.