nLighten appoints Dame Dawn Childs as CEO, Matthew Harris CFO

nLighten announced the appointments of Dame Dawn Childs as chief executive officer, effective June 1, and Matthew Harris as chief financial officer, effective July 1. Co-founder and outgoing CEO Harro Beusker will stay on the company’s board as a non-executive director and will serve as a senior advisor to I Squared Capital.

The company operates a pan‑European edge data center platform of 34 sites across seven countries. nLighten said it plans to grow the network through organic expansion, targeted acquisitions and ongoing investment in sustainable infrastructure as demand increases from enterprises, hyperscalers and AI providers for edge capacity that supports high‑bandwidth applications, cloud connectivity and latency‑sensitive workloads.

Childs joins from Pure Data Centres Group, where she spent nearly five years, first as chief operating officer and later as CEO. Her previous roles include leading a multi‑billion‑pound transformation program at National Grid, senior engineering positions at Merlin Entertainments and Gatwick Airport, and a 23‑year career as an engineering officer in the Royal Air Force. She will take a non‑executive role at Pure Data Centres Group when she starts at nLighten, and commented that the company can help meet Europe’s need for secure, high‑performance and more sustainable digital infrastructure.

Harris brings more than 15 years of financial and strategic experience in digital infrastructure, technology and investment. He most recently served as CFO at Kao Data, where he was a founding board member and investor director, and previously held the CFO role at Goldacre Ventures. Harris said he looks forward to supporting nLighten’s expansion across Europe and delivering long‑term value for customers and stakeholders.

Nick Read, chairman of nLighten, highlighted the pair’s operational and financial expertise as important for scaling the business and noted rising AI-driven demand for edge capacity across Europe.

Beusker will support the leadership transition from the board. The appointments take effect June 1 for Childs and July 1 for Harris.