Hard cash behind maverick leading battle for Bulb

Most of us know it as the upstart energy supplier with a cuddly eight-limbed mollusk as its mascot. Octopus Energy has championed wind farms, has nothing good to say about “dirty gas,” and counts climate change campaigner and former US presidential candidate Al Gore as a backer.

But the company, only seven years old, is now targeting the big boys, including British Gas and Germany’s Eon.

Octopus’ controversial taxpayer-backed deal to bring in 1.5 million customers from collapsed Bulb company looks set to catapult the company firmly onto the list of the top three UK suppliers. The agreement with ministers has ruffled the feathers of its established rivals – decades-old energy giants who have launched a legal battle over claims the deal is shrouded in secrecy.

All this has been achieved despite the company never turning a profit and with a bumbling maverick boss from Saltburn near Middlesbrough at the helm, Greg Jackson – whose limp hair is more Damon Albarn of Blur than energy mogul.

Critics wonder how long Octopus’ meteoric rise may last as dozens of other challenger power companies, many founded with little more than a laptop on backwater industrial estates, have collapsed since 2019.

Bulb was the biggest energy failure, with a bailout costing taxpayers £6.5bn. But, unlike the army of victims, there is a global financial network behind Octopus’ cartoon image and British charm. It was initially founded with the backing of Octopus Capital, which was founded in 2000 by entrepreneurs Simon Rogerson and Chris Hulatt.

Little is known about Hulatt, who donated £2,500 to Tory MP Bim Afolami in 2020 and whose interests include ‘advocacy for small business’ and ‘health care’.

An avid triathlete, Rogerson has said his first job was selling household cleaning products door-to-door, despite a public schoolboy background. That was before he switched to wealth management.

Octopus Energy’s backers also include Al Gore’s Generation Investment, a Canadian pension fund, Australia’s Origin Energy and Tokyo Gas – a £12bn energy conglomerate from Japan.

Documents seen by The Mail on Sunday show that Octopus Capital, which derives most of its revenue from its energy arm of the same name, paid a dividend of £17.6m last year.

In contrast, the eponymous energy company made a loss of £31 million on a turnover of £2 billion. Octopus Capital said the dividend did not relate to its energy business and it has since reviewed its ownership structure.

As for Jackson, who launched Octopus Energy after meeting Rogerson in 2015, his roots are relatively humble. He grew up in the Northeast from a single mother who worked as a barmaid and attended the local comprehensive school. He worked hard and got a place at Cambridge University, where he became the top of his class in economics. A handful of solo ventures followed – he even bought the local coffee shop. But his real flair is for technology.

He created the entire online infrastructure of the Labor Party and served as a non-executive director for the left-wing news site Labor List.

His career quickly began to accelerate with the launch of Octopus in 2016, now valued at over £4 billion. It’s taken Jackson from corporate obscurity to energy big shot in less than a decade.

When asked in 2018 if his company was making money, Jackson had to reveal the cold, hard money that backs the company.

“By the way,” he told skeptical MPs, “we’re backed by a very large investment fund.”

The government recently selected Jackson’s firm as the best place for Bulb’s customers – at the suggestion of British gas owner Centrica. Are rivals right to be angry at a taxpayer-funded dowry – Octopus reportedly asked for £1bn – which some say may never be paid back?

In good company?: Greg Jackson with Boris Johnson when the Prime Minister visited his headquarters

The inappropriate row has been further fueled by allegations that the deal with ministers is not transparent enough. It could even lead to a judicial review that could send Bulb back into “special administration” – where it’s been lurking for the past year.

Jackson has previously argued it’s a “fair deal for the taxpayer,” but after weeks of criticism from competitors, this weekend he felt he should move on. “They were all repeatedly given the opportunity to participate,” he told The Mail on Sunday. “They then wait until the end and essentially try to use the lanes.”

Jackson said he is disappointed, but not surprised, by the actions of his competitors under fire – many of whom have lost large amounts of customers since Octopus’ arrival.

Scottish Power, Centrica – which has lost a third of its customers in the past decade – and Eon have all teamed up in an effort to halt the takeover. Jackson said this “shows what customers have known for a long time.”

“We’re competing to make the industry better for customers, but it’s been a fun club,” he said.

“My main thought was that this was the same old behavior.”

Octopus prides itself on better customer service than its counterparts, and Jackson has criticized rivals who “could do a dramatically better job.” He said, “If you look at their performance on any of the review sites, they’re bad or they’re getting worse.

‘During the energy crisis, people need help and support. They don’t need companies with bad service and it’s getting worse.

“That should be the real battlefield, not the court.”