Lauren McGaughey has formally taken on the role of Northern Ireland director of broadband giant Openreach after a year leading the team on an acting basis.

She replaces Garret Kavanagh, who has been in the role four four years but will move into a new UK-wide post as managing director for complex engineering on his return from family leave.

Lauren joined Openreach in 2013 and brings extensive experience across commercial and network operations.

Over the past year she has successfully led the Northern Ireland business, overseeing strong progress on broadband upgrades across the region and making ultra-reliable full fibre technology available to 92% of Northern Ireland.

She said: “Openreach’s investment and delivery has already secured Northern Ireland’s place as the most digitally connected region in the UK, and I’m excited to build on that momentum by connecting even more homes and businesses to faster, reliable broadband.

“We now have a unique competitive advantage – particularly for businesses – with opportunities to scale, attract investment and operate with the confidence of fast, dependable connectivity.”

Garret Kavanagh added: “Lauren’s been leading our Northern Ireland team with real distinction over the past year, so this is a natural next step.

“She combines deep operational experience with a strong commitment to customers and communities, and I’m confident she’ll continue to build on the outstanding progress we’ve made.

“It’s been a privilege to play my part in delivering one of the most ambitious infrastructure upgrade programmes anywhere in the UK.

“As I move into my new role I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved together – building the highest level of full fibre coverage in the UK and creating a strong leadership team that will continue to drive better outcomes for Northern Ireland.”

Openreach’s wholesale broadband network – the UK’s largest – supports more than 680 service providers including BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Vodafone and Zen to provide broadband, TV, phone, data and mobile services to their customers.

It is currently investing £15 billion to build a new full fibre broadband network to 25 million homes and businesses in the UK by the end of 2026.