Specialties: Technology. It was founded in 2015 with the backing of British fund management company Octopus Group, a British asset management company. Greg: If I could change anything I would have trusted myself more, as I could have started Octopus Energy five years earlier than I did! By expanding to so many other countries and really capitalising on the technology we create, we are able to have an edge on the competition. There, Rebecca was Head of Marketing for Dyno Rod, and Head of Product for Hive 2 Thermostats, one of the most sought-after energy products of its time. [24], In July 2021 Octopus rose 12 places on the UK Customer Service Index to 17th, making it the only energy company in the Top 50. It was founded in 2015 with the backing of British fund management company Octopus Group, a British asset management company. [38], As of August 2021, the company has over 2.4 million domestic and business customers. [65], In 2019 Octopus launched a 'Portraits from the Precipice' campaign, which sought to raise awareness of climate change and encouraged customers to switch to greener energy deals. Greg is an experienced digital entrepreneur, passionate about using technology to make positive change. In your view what does it mean to be an entrepreneur and are all entrepreneurs businessmen or women? And I genuinely hope they all go on to great things, even if thats not necessarily at Octopus Energy. [61] In May 2021 it was announced that E.ON had completed the migration of all two million former npower customers to its Kraken-powered E.ON Next customer service platform. [3][4][5][6] Jackson has trained many successful fighters, including former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones, former UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm, former Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans, and a roster of other UFC contenders and World Extreme Cagefighting champions. What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs? Jackson came from a family of wrestlers (his father, brother, and uncle were all champions in the sport). The companys flexibility platform KrakenFlex will be used together with Elia Groups energy data affiliate, re.alto, to enable electric vehicles, heat pumps and other green technologies to be used for grid balancing. A weekly newsletter helping you fit together the pieces of the global economic slowdown. [56][57], The Electric Universe service, which aims to simplify public charging of electric vehicles, was launched in 2020 as Electric Juice and rebranded in 2022. Were nothing like Bulb.. Clem joined Octopus from a career in political consultancy for the renewable energy and clean tech sectors. We need to learn from the pandemic, Jackson says. KrakenFlex is currently contracted to manage over 1,600 MW of power with further 2 GWs of renewable generation to come online through 2022. The boss of Octopus Energy has a small tub, which pleases him as it is efficient and fills quickly. Britains failure to invest in renewables led us into the gas crisis, says Jackson, and a revolution in energy supply and policy is urgently needed. John is a highly experienced energy entrepreneur. We speak to Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy Group, the technology-to-investment energy platform, about the importance of government intervention in energy policy, the role of technology, and how a greener future could be nearer than we think. [73], Octopus was one of a number of brands who considered pulling their advertising from the channel, with others including IKEA, Vodafone, Nivea, Kopparberg, Grolsch, the Open University, OVO Energy and LV=. The other key difference between Octopus and other utilities companies is technology. It could cost taxpayers 2bn. The boss has now stated that it has "never . How would you define a successful business leader? What is the number one trait you look for in employees before recruiting them as part your team, and how has this requirement been integrated into the organisations culture and recruitment policy? .more. I want them to feel happy and fulfilled by the work they do. Three Co-op brands were affected: Octopus acquired the customers of the GB Energy and Flow Energy brands, and began to operate the accounts of Co-op Energy customers on a white label basis, while Midcounties retained responsibility for acquiring new Co-op Energy customers. Events  As a Senior Partner and Managing Director at BCG, Deepak gained extensive experience transforming legacy businesses through technology, working across the UK, Nordics, US, South East Asia and India. Please talk us through your entrepreneurial journey from when you graduated Cambridge University in 1994 to when you cofounded Octopus Energy in 2015? Our researched showed that Octopus Energy has grown its domestic customer based in UK, from just 198,000 customers in 2018 to over 1.5 million customers in 2020. Jackson grew up in a rough neighborhood, and began learning martial arts to defend himself. The contemporary Jackson-Wink MMA Academy won the same award in 2015.[9]. [3] Trading began in December 2015. In 72 hours, the six-year-old company had swelled to accommodate more customers than Scottish Power (to 3.1 million in total) and a higher valuation (approaching $5bn) than Centrica, the owner of British Gas. [6] Later in 2018, Octopus gained the 100,000 customers of Iresa Limited, under Ofgem's "supplier of last resort" process, after Iresa ceased trading. The current energy crisis emerged towards the end of the legal work and due diligence that is needed for such a deal to happen, and provided a dramatic test of the companys ability to handle a large, rapidly developing challenge: We had to demonstrate to the investors that taking on Avro wouldnt get in the way of the long-term mission.. [7] The same year, Octopus replaced SSE as the energy supplier for M&S Energy, a brand of Marks & Spencer,[8] and bought Affect Energy, which had 22,000 customers. London Tuesday 8th November - This evening, the founder and CEO of Octopus Energy, Greg Jackson, joined consumer champion Martin Lewis on his flagship TV show on ITV. Stuart Jackson is the Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer of Octopus Energy. Rebecca is a highly experienced marketer and known for breathing new life into technology products. Energy companies are going to end up more like technology companies, like AirBnB, Amazon, Google and Monzo says Greg. [7] In 2007, Jackson teamed up with striking coach Mike Winkeljohn, which was a seminal moment for Jackson's academy; since then, the gym has been known as Jackson Wink MMA Academy (JW MMA Academy),[8] representing the partnership between Jackson and Winkeljohn. Our first guest is Greg Jackson, CEO and founder of Octopus Energy who will kick the series off on Thursday 26 January. HR in all companies will be looking for how they can improve value to businesses, and there are always conversations to be had about alternative models from which we can all learn. Family In a relationship; has two children from previous partners. By expanding to so many other countries and really capitalising on the technology we create, we are able to have an edge on the competition. Until recently, he was also a non-executive Director for Zopa, the global pioneer of online peer to peer lending that is now Moneysupernarkets largest non-high street lender and is growing rapidly. The engineering part only takes a year.. You cant become a car dealer if you havent got the money to buy cars, says Jackson, exasperated. Prior to Affect Energy, where John built up a strong reputation for good, local customer service in Sussex, he was Managing Director of Thermabead Ltd in Worcester. To be the first to hear about our events, get immediate access to new podcast episodes, and hear news picked just for you Join our community! Greg Jackson was grilled by viewers on profits, prices and electric blankets . Read more . [1] Refresh Jon has worked for the last 18 years building a number of successful energy challengers, service innovators and disruptors across both Australia and the UK. He also has a wealth of experience in energy efficiency and looks after Octopus energy efficiency schemes alongside metering, solar, heat pumps and EV chargers. There are companies whose entire asset base [is] in gas, he continues, and they will relentlessly try to tell us gas is the solution, or hydrogen is the solution. I literally dont get invited to them. [25], In 2021, Octopus built the UK's first R&D and training centre for the decarbonisation of heat. Europe is going to go into this winter with more gas storage than last year, but if Russia stops sending gas to Europe, prices will skyrocket.. I also have had non-executive and chairman roles at peer-to-peer lender Zopa and Consultant Connect. [49], In January 2021, Octopus acquired two 73 metre (240') wind turbines to power their 'Fan Club' tariff, which offers households living near its turbines cheaper electricity prices when the wind is blowing strongly. Now we see this as a national security issue as well if thats not the final nail I dont know what to do.. He also holds an MBA from Yale University and is an independent non-executive director of the Thames Estuary Growth Board, where he co-chairs the hydrogen committee, and a Member of the Yale University Alumni Association Board of Governors. Greg Jackson, CEO Greg Jackson Founder Octopus Energy agrees $600m deal with former-VP Al Gore backed sustainable investment fund We're over the moon to be able to announce our $600 million partnership with Generation Investment Management, a sustainable investment fund, co-chaired by former US Vice-President and climate champion Al Gore. We train our managers to take on many of the functions that are normally covered by HR departments. In May 2020, her team launched the Electric Juice Charging Network, the UK's first consolidated network of charge point providers that allows users to charge their EVs across the UK with all costs appearing on a single bill. Elsewhere, a vast screen displays the progress of Plots for Kilowatts, a scheme that matches areas where residents have said theyll put up with an onshore windfarm in return for lower bills with areas where landowners are keen to host one. The customer accounts will be migrated onto Kraken from 2023, increasing the number of energy accounts contracted to be served via Kraken to over 20million worldwide. Passionate, creative, innovative CEO, entrepreneur and investor. Origin invested a further $50m at the same time, to maintain its 20% stake. Greg Jackson isnt your average energy company CEO. Deepak has been involved as a partner to Octopus Energy Group since 2018. He's founded a number of successful businesses, including e-commerce company C360, built HomeServe's innovation business and is an angel investor in a wide range of tech start-ups. The New Statesmans global affairs newsletter, every Monday and Friday. Thats an amazing 658% growth in your domestic customer based alone, and within the span of 2 years. Since relocating to the UK 7 years ago, Jon worked on the set-up of Bulb and later Octopus Energy. Octopus Energy has a multi faceted business model, generating value from different revenue streams. This interview was originally published on our sister platform, ChangeinAfrica Magazine, the content is wholly owned by Innoglo Ltd. Mon - Fri: Respond with 24 hrs The campaign won the 2020 Marketing Week Masters award for utilities, and the 2020 Energy Institute award for Public Engagement. Weve never made a profit and were going to, but weve ploughed everything were going to make into customer support so were not going to make one this year, he says. Energy companies around the world still maintain that natural gas (perhaps cleaned up with a puff of hydrogen) is the transition fuel that will take us to net zero. How we work  More recently in my work history Ive specialised in creating technology & ecommerce platforms, something me and Octopus Energy CTO James Eddison did together for clients such as Greene King and SAP. On February 5, 2013, Jackson signed with Bellator to coach on the promotion's reality series titled Fight Master: Bellator MMA.[10]. T&Cs  [15] In January 2021, Octopus was ranked second and was one of two recommended providers, becoming the only energy provider in the UK to have been named as a recommended provider four years running. It has enabled us to lower our costs to serve up to 75% compared to some of our competitors Thanks to Kraken, we are able to scale our customer service team quickly to take on new customers and keep them happy. With its smart tariffs proving customer appetite for flexibility, Octopus is pioneering a global system change to enable a cheaper, faster transition to renewables. In November 2021, Octopus acquired Italian energy retailer SATO Luce e Gas, rebranding the business as Octopus Energy Italy, investing an initial 51m and targeting 5% of the Italian market by 2025. [21], The same month saw Octopus launch the not-for-profit Octopus Centre for Net Zero (OCNZ), a research organisation tasked with creating models and policy recommendations for potential paths to a green energy future. The last 12 months has been tough on a lot of businesses due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Before starting KrakenFlex, Devrims professional career saw him take up executive roles with blue chip management consultancies and finance companies such as Publicis Sapient, Kearney and Lansdowne. We also create industry leading technology that allows relentless efficiency and world class customer service, enabling us to retain our customers and keep them happy. [10][11], In August 2019, an agreement with Midcounties Co-operative saw Octopus gain more than 300,000 customers, taking its total beyond 1 million. Sunday: 8am - 11pm, Interview with Entrepreneur - Greg Jackson - CEO of Octopus Energy. Do you have any influences that have inspired your entrepreneurial journey and how? He has never taken a bonus, and owns a 6% stake, worth about 240m. Prior to joining Octopus Energy, Lara worked at US-based Opower, a customer engagement start-up and pioneer of Behavioural Energy Efficiency. As a company we are completely digital, so we asked everybody to take their laptops home on Friday, and when lockdown was announced on Monday, our team just plugged the headsets into their laptops and continued working as usual. The UKs biggest energy companies might shrug off such strident criticism from a campaigner, but Octopus has rapidly ascended to challenge what Jackson, 50, calls the lazy oligopoly of the big six. Prior to Octopus Energy, Zoisa was the UK Managing Director of the Dutch Utility, Eneco B.V. At Eneco, Zoisa helped grow the UKs renewable asset portfolio which consisted of more than 250MW of wind and solar projects, including a direct wire project with Honda of the UK Manufacturing Ltd. Eneco UK also supplied blue-chip companies such as Mars, Unilever, Heineken and AkzoNobel. As of September 2022, more than 450 charging companies were taking part, allowing customers access to over 300,000 chargers in over 50 countries through a single card and/or app. The acquisition was the first step in Octopus' $100m US expansion; at the time of the acquisition, Octopus announced it was aiming to acquire 25 million US customers, and 100 million global customers in total, by 2027. In September 2021, Octopus Energy Group was valued at approximately $5 billion following a $600 million investment from Generation Investment Management and a $300 million investment from Canada Pensions Plan Investments Board. As a result, he was suspended from school for instigating fights on more than one occasion. Were in a double crisis now: a cost crisis, and a carbon crisis. Octopus began talking to Gores team two years ago. Octopus is his magnum opus, taking on the tired, old energy market . Octopuss youthful workforce is poring over energy consumption charts and enthusing about that bespoke tech, called Kraken, which will now be licensed to other utility companies. Jackson explains need for market reform to move to renewable energy sooner. [70][71], In June 2021, Octopus suspended their advertising from the newly launched GB News television channel after the channel's first day of broadcasting, with CEO Greg Jackson stating "we are asking networks not to air our ads on new channels until we've seen their output for a period of time". 464 views May 4, 2022 Greg Jackson is the founder and chief executive of Octopus Energy, one of the UK's fastest-growing energy companies. Octopus are on a mission to bring cheaper, greener power to all. He began his working life as a video games programmer and always fancied a stint as a motorcycle courier (electric, of course).. There are bright pink octopus toys dotted around the half-full offices, and crisps and sweets on a communal table. We are also able to license out Kraken to other energy companies, allowing them to make use of the same efficiencies. The New Statesmans weekly environment email on the politics, business and culture of the climate and nature crises - in your inbox every Thursday. She spent some time consulting for a FTSE 100 energy company, followed by a secondment to the Department for the Energy & Climate Change (DECC), and then launching market-leading connected home products - starting at British start-up Alert Me, who became part of the leading smart home provider Hive, a British Gas innovation. In order to provide you with the latest digital energy web services you need to use the latest and greatest web browsers. We'll cover a range of topics, including asking Greg what 2023 holds for the tech and energy sector at this challenging time, and which technologies he thinks are going to make a difference to the sector in the future. Cheap energy bills arent coming back this decade, Christopher Harborne: the silent donor behind Brexit and Boris Johnson, Sherif Tawfik: The Middle East and Africa are ready to lead on the climate, The power trap: Why the energy crisis is a crisis of politics, Elon Musk was never really the worlds richest man, Why Jeremy Hunt is gambling with thousands of small businesses, The year woke broke: a brief history of a contested word, Why Britains economy has never been worse, with Duncan Weldon, The good social network: what Twitter could learn from the coffeehouse Audio Long Reads, Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance, HR, Training and Organisational Development, Information and Communications Technology, Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives, Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities, Science and Technical Research and Development. What advice do you have for other businesses on environmental sustainability and its impact on climate change? Nov 2, 2022. The green energy firm's founder on his sympathy for those struggling with bills - and his exasperation at net zero opponents [32] In September of that year, Octopus acquired Evolve Energy, a US Silicon Valley-based start-up, in a $5m deal. His school officially turned into an MMA school in 2000. At Octopus he has responsibility for finance, procurement & market risk management, customer acquisition and data science. [12], Besides the Octopus Energy brand, as of September2021[update] customers are supplied under the Ebico Energy, Affect Energy, Co-op Energy, M&S Energy and London Power brands. [74], "Octopus Energy sees 160% jump in revenue but still records loss due to 'relentless investment', "Blame game begins after the failure of Bulb Energy", "Al Gore's firm buys 483m stake in Octopus Energy Group", "Octopus Energy to take on 100,000 Iresa customers", "M&S cuts ties with Big Six as it partners with Octopus for new energy brand", "Hanwha Reveals Plans of Launching "Next Generation" 100% Renewable Energy Retailer in Australia", "Hanwha Group chooses Octopus Energy technology platform for Aussie launch", "Octopus Energy and Co-op Energy confirm major 'strategic energy partnership', "About our partnership with Co-op Energy, including Flow Energy and GB Energy", "Energy Companies: Which? Our Founder, Hubert Nomamiukor organised a Q&A session with Greg Jackson, the CEO of Octopus Energy, to capture his entrepreneurial journey, influences and perspectives. I lived through rip-roaring inflation in the 1980s and double-digit interest rates. The plan allows households to become part of the UK Tesla Virtual Power Plant, which connects a network homes that generate, store and return electricity to grid at peak times. Octopus Energy was established in August 2015 as a subsidiary of Octopus Capital Limited. After his parents split, his mother worked as a barmaid and later studied while on benefits. Growth? Greg: Weve been rapidly growing and in December closed our second financing round with Tokyo Gas and Origin Energy in 2020, which increased our valuation to more than $2 billion. Is it profit, value or something else? Internally its called Winder (wind-Tinder, geddit?). [4] Greg Jackson is the founder of the company and holds the position of chief executive. In our experience this leads to strong relationships between managers and team members, happier employees and higher productivity. We have an aim to reach over 100 million customers by 2027, whether thats via other companies licensing Kraken or customers joining Octopus Energy, so we never say never for any country or continent, even if we dont have any plans to at the moment. Greg is also a strong advocate of maintaining a good work-life balance with his work-life blend, which to him means creating a symbiotic, rather than a compartmentalised relationship between his various work commitments and personal life, so he can remain present in all of them. Please talk us through your operating business model, how it generates value and how this gives you a competitive edge in the retail energy market? Prior to that Stuart spent 6 years with Barclays Bank, including a stint running a 5bn credit card business and 10 years as a strategy consultant. [27], In November 2021, Octopus announced in Manchester that it had signed a deal with the city region as part of a bid to become carbon neutral by 2038. Our team is made up of climate enthusiasts who know that switching people to green energy and growing that customer base around the world is the number one thing we can do to turn the tide on climate change. Jacksons career has been far from typical for the energy business. We need to work like that now on the clean energy system., [See also: The power trap: Why the energy crisis is a crisis of politics], This article appears in the 13 Oct 2021 issue of the New Statesman, Perfect Storm. Whats your take on this concept and how diverse is your leadership ranks in Octopus Energy? This platform was created 50/50 by our tech team and our customer service team, and is worked on and tweaked constantly to create the best process for the team who are looking after customers. With operations in the US, Japan, Germany, Spain, Italy, New Zealand and Australia, Octopus Energy Group's mission to drive the affordable green revolution is going global. Octopus energy is the UK's fourth largest energy provider, which boss Greg Jackson says he started because people were "paying too much" on their bills.

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