Brian is BrexVPN's Chief Technology Officer, Founder, Network Operator, Compliance Officer and General Manager. His laptop, a 2009 Dell Inspiron, currently routes the internet traffic of 14,003 patriots from a converted spare room above a post office in Sevenoaks, Kent.
Brian McAllister is the cornerstone of British digital sovereignty. A former regional sales manager for a paving supplies firm in Bromley, Brian turned his attention to cybersecurity in the spring of 2024 after a row with his nephew about an article in The Guardian. By the autumn, BrexVPN was founded on the kitchen table.
Today, Brian is responsible for everything from server uptime to answering customer queries personally, which he does between 9 and 11am on Tuesdays, provided his wife Diane is at her aqua-aerobics class. Outside of these hours all support tickets are forwarded to an answerphone that no one has the password for.
"The internet was better in 1998. Everything was. I'm not saying we should go back, I'm just saying it wouldn't hurt to try."
Brian holds no formal qualifications in computing, networking, telecommunications or information security. He does, however, hold a Level 2 NVQ in Customer Service from 1997, which he keeps in a frame above the toaster.
Brian has been interviewed twice by the Sevenoaks Chronicle and once, briefly, by GB News (the segment was cut for time). He has politely declined offers from the BBC on the grounds that "they wouldn't get it".
Born in Bexley to a baker and a milliner. A quiet child, fond of buses.
Stockroom assistant at Currys. Stays for 11 years. Develops a lifelong scepticism of vacuum cleaners.
Awarded with distinction. Frames the certificate. Begins managing a small paving supplies operation in Bromley.
Brian later describes this as "the most decisive thing I have ever done, apart from getting the conservatory".
A heated discussion with nephew Callum (28) over an article about heat pumps prompts Brian to investigate "this VPN thing the news keeps talking about". A path is set.
First customer: Diane (his wife). She does not use it.
Featured in the Sevenoaks Chronicle. Brian frames the cutting.
Send a self-addressed envelope and a postal order for £2. Brian replies personally, usually within 6–8 working months.
🇬🇧 Get Brian's address