Grain celebrates record achievements in financial and customer performance

Broadband provider Grain is celebrating record achievements as its Carlisle-based business goes from strength to strength.

Grain has announced that as expected, profitability has continued to improve with Grain turning EBITDA positive during the quarter ended March 2025.

Homes ready for service grew by 24% during the financial year to cover over 250,000 premises.

Customer numbers are also up 58% at 43,000 with take-up growing steadily from 13% to 17% over the last 12 months, despite adding 50,000 new premises during the year.

Grain is continuing to invest in its ever-expanding footprint, with significant coverage already achieved in the North East, North West, Humber, Yorkshire and Midlands regions.

Grain is fully funded and plans to continue investing additional capital above this into expansion of its footprint, given the strong financial returns being generated.

Grain CEO Richard Cameron has reflected on the ever-changing alt-net market and the opportunities this has provided for Grain:

“The Altnet market has experienced significant challenges in recent years, with many providers struggling to generate sufficient returns to service their debts and deliver a return to their shareholders. This is often due to high costs, low take-up and the high connection costs required to connect customers to PIA based networks. I am pleased to say that these are problems which Grain doesn’t face, putting us in a unique position having already built a sustainable business over the long term.

“Also, Openreach and other Altnets describe a home ready for service as one which has a live network at the top of a pole or in a chamber, somewhere near a premise, which could be over 100 metres from the home, still requiring substantial network investment and potentially signed wayleaves to connect a customer. Grain describes a home ready for service as one that already has a live network at the boundary of each premise.

“Grain connects homes for about a quarter of the cost that Openreach incurs to connect a home. As a result of this Grain doesn’t have the large capital expenditure overhang costs to connect customers that the rest of the industry faces. This coupled with an efficient customer acquisition model makes Grain unique with new customers paying back in the first year of their contracts.

“We are excited about the future of Grain and the competition it offers, allowing more customers to make the move to Full Fibre broadband, at affordable and transparent prices.”
Richard Cameron, CEO Grain Connect

See also:

• Here we grow again: More funding secured
• Broadband provider Grain grows again with further funding secured