Matthew Riley

Riley left school at the age of 16 and entered a Youth Training Scheme (YTS) as a trainee fax machine engineer with the Burnley-based office technology company, FH Brown.

Riley later worked as UK sales manager for the German telecommunications company DeTeWe AG, a position he held until 1999. In 1998, he founded Daisy Executive Search & Selection, followed by Coms Care in 1999, where he served as chief executive officer until the company was acquired in 2001.

In 2001, Riley established Daisy Group. The company expanded through a series of acquisitions, listing on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in 2009 before returning to private ownership in 2014. In 2018, it was acquired by a consortium led by Toscafund in a deal reportedly valued at £1.6 billion, with Riley resuming his role as chairman. In May 2025, Daisy Group merged with Virgin Media O2.

Outside of Daisy Group, Riley has held non-executive roles, including chairman of the audit and remuneration committees of Time Out Group and non-executive director of Tialis Essential IT PLC. He appeared as a guest interviewer on the BBC Television series, The Apprentice in 2011 and 2012.

Riley has received several UK business awards, including:

• Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Ernst & Young (2007)
• Dealmaker of the Year, City Awards (2010)
• Outstanding Achievement Award, ICT Forum (2019)