Greg Jackson and his gyms have won five World MMA Awards altogether. 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. Profit? A newsletter showcasing the finest writing from the ideas section and the NS archive, covering political ideas, philosophy, criticism and intellectual history - sent every Wednesday. Octopus and Tokyo Gas agreed to launch the Octopus brand in Japan via a 30:70 joint venture to provide electricity from renewable sources, amongst other services. Greg Jackson was born in Washington D.C. to Kris and Jim Jackson, who were Quakers originally from the Midwest. [53], In January 2022, it was announced that Octopus Renewables had bought the Broons/Biterne-Sud wind farm in Cotes dArmor, northeast Brittany, France from Energiequelle for an undisclosed price. 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.. [60], In March 2020 it was announced that E.ON and its Npower subsidiary had licensed the technology to manage their combined 10 million customers. 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. [58], Octopus Energy licenses their proprietary customer management system called Kraken, which runs on Amazon's cloud computing service. Driving full energy system change, the Group consists of 10 businesses across the energy value chain, operating in 8 countries globally and supporting 3.2 million customers in the UK. [22], In February 2021, CEO Greg Jackson said on a BBC News interview that Octopus does not operate a human resources department. [45][46] At the time of the acquisition, the generation assets were reported to be worth over 3.4billion. His school officially turned into an MMA school in 2000. What is the secret behind the growth and success of Octopus Energy? Jackson said the size of the supplier with 1.5 million customers meant there was no viable route for the business to be taken on by a competitor before its collapse. 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.. Jacksons career has been far from typical for the energy business. Passionate, creative, innovative CEO, entrepreneur and investor. You need to ask yourself these questions when defining your success. Octopus Energy is one of the fastest growing energy firms to ever launch in Britain and is on track to join the Big Six utility providers. Jackson grew up in a rough neighborhood, and began learning martial arts to defend himself. One department looks after Electric Juice, a service that lets customers add car-charging payments to their electricity bill. 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About Greg Jackson: Greg is an experienced digital entrepreneur, passionate about making the green energy revolution affordable through technology. After his parents split, his mother worked as a barmaid and later studied while on benefits. Octopuss other renewables ventures include a huge push to replace gas boilers with heat pumps, and investment in what will be the worlds longest subsea power cable, linking Devon to a vast solar farm in the Moroccan desert. 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. [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. Clem led Octopus Energys campaign for an energy price cap and has worked closely with government to help drive policy for the decarbonisation of heat and support the transition to a more renewable grid. In 2006, he sold a customer relationship tech business for 4.5m. Octopus began talking to Gores team two years ago. Octopus is also unusual in that, as well as selling to consumers, it derives more than half its value from the technology it licenses to other businesses in the UK and around the world (a model reminiscent of Amazon). Greg is an experienced digital entrepreneur, passionate about using technology to make positive change. He began his working life as a video games programmer and always fancied a stint as a motorcycle courier (electric, of course).. In 2010, Jackson released another instructional book about his ground fighting style called Jackson's MMA - The Ground Game. [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. A weekly round-up of some of the best articles featured in the most recent issue of the New Statesman, sent each Saturday. 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. Samuel Leroy Jackson (Washington D. C., 21 de diciembre de 1948), conocido como Samuel L. Jackson, es un actor y productor de cine, televisin y teatro estadounidense.Ha sido candidato al Premio scar, a los Globos de Oro y al Premio del Sindicato de Actores, as como ganador de un BAFTA al mejor actor de reparto y en 2022 se le entreg un scar honorfico a su trayectoria profesional. [12][13], In both 2018 and 2019, Octopus was the only energy supplier to earn "Recommended Provider" status from the Which? Its actually more than that: bringing down energy costs is one of the reasons I started the business, he says. [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. Greg: The desire for their colleagues to be happy and successful. It was the companys third major investment round since launching to the market. [36], In September 2021, Generation Investment Management, co-founded and chaired by Al Gore, purchased a 13% stake in Octopus Energy Group in a deal worth $600m. 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. Sign up to receive information regarding NS events, subscription offers & product updates. Deepak has been involved as a partner to Octopus Energy Group since 2018. As 31 energy firms went bust since the start of last year, public ire has been directed at the bosses of failed challengers. Jackson, 50, grew up near Middlesbrough. I want them to know that their work is making a difference, everyday. Were in a double crisis now: a cost crisis, and a carbon crisis. Deepak is a successful entrepreneur himself, taking the tech business he founded from concept to IPO. [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. Thats an amazing 658% growth in your domestic customer based alone, and within the span of 2 years. Greg is an experienced digital entrepreneur, passionate about making the green energy revolution affordable through technology. As the Observer arrives at the headquarters near Oxford Circus, in central London, for our interview, Jackson cheerfully leaps up from his desk among the troops. In your view what does it mean to be an entrepreneur and are all entrepreneurs businessmen or women? Jackson explains need for market reform to move to renewable energy sooner. 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. The collection of projects reflects Jacksons entrepreneurial background. Greg is an experienced digital entrepreneur, passionate about making the green energy revolution affordable through technology. [43], In its early years the company did not generate gas or electricity, instead making purchases on the wholesale markets. 8 Dislike Share Save. Our last question before ending this interview is around environmentally sustainable businesses and their impact on climate change. The contemporary Jackson-Wink MMA Academy won the same award in 2015.[9]. Octopus are on a mission to bring cheaper, greener power to all. Rachels remit is to create the regulations and markets needed to achieve net zero quickly and affordably. 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. A business leader is someone who doesnt look to make quick money, but really wants to change their industry for the better, do something different and lead from the front, rather than worry about what their competitors are doing. [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. 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. 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. These days, Greg Jackson is the founder behind the only energy company recommended by Which?. In 2019, Octopus stated that all its electricity came from renewable sources, and began to offer a "green" gas tariff with carbon offsetting. 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. Greg Jackson on Twitter: "Octopus Energy recent commitments: 10,000,000 to build a decarb of heat R&D centre 5,000,000 to establish the Centre for Net Zero 108,000 to its BLM fund 1,000 ad on a right wing channel So, 15,108x more on progressive stuff More soon, but hope perspective helps." / Twitter. Both investors back businesses that drive sustainability, promote green energy and tackle climate change. You cant become a car dealer if you havent got the money to buy cars, says Jackson, exasperated. Plm was subsequently rebranded as Octopus Energy France. 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. With the crisis that toppled so many suppliers continuing to rage, Jackson thinks the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is right to plough 15bn into addressing the cost of living: It makes economic sense for the government to find ways to bring bills and inflation down. One business C360 that was subsequently acquired, was founded to pioneer a new way of using technology to drive marketing or as Greg puts it SaaS before it was trendy. Greg is also an investor in several tech start-ups and as an advisor, supports companies and entrepreneurs with fundraising, mergers, acquisitions and strategy. Having been in the industry for over 20 years, he has founded a number of businesses that he took to sale, including Affect Energy, which became part of the Octopus Energy Group in 2018. Greg is the founder and CEO of Octopus Energy Group, the green energy tech pioneer based in the UK with over 3.1 million customers, further operations in 13 countries and over 23 million accounts licensed worldwide to its green technology platform, Kraken. [3] Trading began in December 2015. You can tell if someone grew up in a cold house: we often prefer baths when you get out of the shower you get a real shock, he says. And I'll let you know if we want your ads. 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. Are people working at your company happy? Headquartered in London, the company has operations in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the United States. Last holiday Cotswold Water Park, with family and friends. Octopus Energy is currently value at $2 billion, how did this evaluation come about? Greg Jackson founded Octopus Energy in 2015 with a view to using technology to make the green energy revolution faster and cheaper for consumers. We have already done this in countries like Australia, Germany, US, New Zealand and Japan, so we still have many more countries that could benefit from this technology and our business model. KrakenFlexs cloud-based technology platform controls distributed energy assets such as large-scale batteries, EVs, or heat pumps with machine learning and AI to match electricity supply and demand, helping the electricity grid deal with the natural volatility of renewable generation. Despite the current crisis of price and supply in the gas market, its described by BP as resilient and by Centrica as more affordable than other energy sources. 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. Were nothing like Bulb.. Following his CTO role at Tangent plc, James & the other founders thought up Kraken, a technology platform that would rival all others in the energy market. A day later, Generation Investment Management, a fund chaired by Al Gore, committed to a $600m investment in Octopus. Or the F-word., Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Octopus Energys Greg Jackson: Climate change is no longer this vague thing, Greg Jackson: We want a similar effort [on renewables] to the vaccine rollout.. 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. [62][63] The Kraken software was also licensed to Australia's Origin Energy as part of their May 2020 agreement. Greg Jackson was grilled by viewers on profits, prices and electric blankets . With that he dashes off to do the school run, ready to pass on his opinions to the next generation. We took the 15 years it usually takes to make a vaccine, and did it in less than a year. It could cost taxpayers 2bn. Octopus founding team are from tech rather than energy backgrounds and are determinedly using technology to drive down prices, enable great service and drive towards a renewable future through the smart grid, which is essential to decarbonise affordably. [citation needed]. Rachel joined Octopus Energy in 2021, bringing with her a wealth of knowledge following more than two decades of experience in energy regulation. 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. Octopus Energy Group operates a wide range of business divisions, including Octopus Energy Retail, Octopus Energy for Business, Octopus Energy Services, Octopus Electric Vehicles, Octopus Energy Generation, Octopus Hydrogen, Kraken, Kraken Flex and the not-for-profit Centre for Net Zero. The campaign won the 2020 Marketing Week Masters award for utilities, and the 2020 Energy Institute award for Public Engagement. For those that don't know Octopus Energy, they are UK's fastest growing green energy retailer and are currently valued at $2 billion. Greg: The pandemic certainly hasnt slowed us down. Building on the award winning end-to-end entech platform, Kraken Utilities will create customer centricity and automated, scalable and efficient operations for other traditionally low-tech sectors, allowing innovation at pace. Octopus Energy is one of the fastest growing energy firms to ever launch in Britain and is on track to join the Big Six utility providers. John moved from managing Affect Energy to running Octopus' engineering fleet and developing the UK's first Heat Pump Research & Development Centre, along with the proposition to train over 1,000 heat pump engineers a year and produce 1,000 heat pumps a month through the new Octopus Energy factory in Northern Ireland. survey and was one of three recommended providers. [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. [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. Are you happy doing what youre doing? What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs? Launched in 2016, the company's mission is to bring cheaper, greener power to all. In 1992, after graduating from Rio Grande High School, Jackson founded his own martial art, Gaidojutsu, which combines rudimentary techniques from catch wrestling and Muay Thai with basic judo locks. A quick update on the week in companies, markets, finance and the world of work. Prior to joining Octopus Energy, Lara worked at US-based Opower, a customer engagement start-up and pioneer of Behavioural Energy Efficiency. Octopus Energy Group is a British renewable energy group specialising in sustainable energy. Theyre not doing it because they care about the planet, and theyre not doing it because they care about bills.. Prior to joining Octopus Energy as Director of Operations, Tara spent three years at Tesla helping scale their service organisation in the UK & Benelux and as Country Manager for the UK. Her work focused on making essential services sustainable, high quality and affordable. Whats your take on this concept and how diverse is your leadership ranks in Octopus Energy? James has been instrumental in the creation of Octopus Energys proprietary technology, digital-first offerings and its global expansion. There was a problem! 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. She has done this all while maintaining some of the very best customer service ratings in the industry. Climate change is no longer this vague thing: people are literally baking in India and Pakistan, he says. 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. Greg is the founder and CEO of Octopus Energy Group, the green energy tech pioneer based in the UK with over 3.1 million customers, further operations in 13 countries and over 23 million accounts licensed worldwide to its green technology platform, Kraken. In our experience this leads to strong relationships between managers and team members, happier employees and higher productivity. . The division is also behind Octopus Energys Fan Club, a local energy tariff that provides cheaper energy when the wind blows. 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. Theres some blokes with phones, and what theyve always done is phoned up coal and gas power stations and told them to turn on and off. [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". [5], By April 2018, the company had 198,000 customers and had made an energy procurement deal with Shell. He began developing software (in the form of video games) at 16, then studied economics at Cambridge before running a mirror factory, then founding a number of technology-led businesses. Our weekly culture newsletter from books and art to pop culture and memes sent every Friday. [68][69], In November 2021 Octopus financed 'Grace of the Sun', a large-scale art piece by Robert Montgomery made using the Little Sun solar lamps designed by Olafur Eliasson and Frederik Ottesen. Specialties: Technology. [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. Octopus Energy Group is a British renewable energy group specialising in sustainable energy. Our first guest is Greg Jackson, CEO and founder of Octopus Energy who will kick the series off on Thursday 26 January. Since relocating to the UK 7 years ago, Jon worked on the set-up of Bulb and later Octopus Energy. 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 Extr Education Huntcliff secondary school in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, east of Middlesbrough (left at 16); wrote video games software before returning to do A-levels; economics degree at Pembroke College, Cambridge. 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. His morning routine echoes the tycoons underprivileged childhood. It was founded in 2015 with the backing of British fund management company Octopus Group, a British asset management company. Now his mission is to turn Britain on to renewables, despite the efforts of a small noisy group, including Nigel Farage, attacking net zero goals. With the pandemic, we took the 15 years it usually takes to make a vaccine, and did it in less than a year. I dont just want them to come in and do things for the company. He won the Coach of the Year award in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Its technology platform Kraken also achieves dramatically lower cost to serve than rivals, so cheaper, green power is delivered hand in hand with unbeaten customer satisfaction levels. A relaxed evening talking with Greg Jackson, the founder and Phil Steele Future Technology Evangelist of Octopus Energy.You can email the Octopus team as ref. 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. Octopus took on 600,000 customers from bust Avro Energy last year, and Jackson accuses the administrators of arguing and quibbling over completely unimportant technical points. Fiona studied Engineering, Economics and Management at Oxford, and initially worked at BMW on a hydrogen fuel cell for an auxiliary power unit, as part of a hydrogen car that used a combustion engine. Everyone wants to talk about the transition fuel maybe a 20 per cent hydrogen mix in our gas supplies, that kind of thing Even if the hydrogen was zero-carbon which, by the way, the creation of hydrogen so far in the UK at scale is definitely not it would only reduce the carbon emissions of gas by 6-8 per cent because of the lower energy density, [and] it would put bills up dramatically, because hydrogen is a lot more expensive.
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