Stephen Fitzpatrick

Stephen Fitzpatrick is a British businessman, founder of OVO Energy and former owner of the Manor Racing team. He is the President of Vertical Aerospace.

This article is about the British businessman. For the British musician, see Stephen Fitzpatrick (musician).

Stephen Fitzpatrick
Born1977 (age 43–44)[1]
Belfast, Northern Ireland
NationalityBritish
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
Occupationbusinessman
TitleManaging Director of OVO Energy

Personal life and education

Fitzpatrick was born in Belfast. He studied at Our Lady and St Patrick's College and the University of Edinburgh, where he received his master's degree in finance and business.[2] In 2015, he lived in the Cotswolds with his wife Sophy and their three children.[2]

Career

Early career

In 2001, after graduating, Fitzpatrick founded The Rental Guide, a real estate advertisement business which promoted properties in Scotland online and via a free newspaper. Livewire nominated him for the Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Fitzpatrick closed the business due to concerns about its ability to scale given limited numbers of real estate agents. He moved to London to take jobs in the financial sector with Societe Generale and JP Morgan.[2][3]

OVO Energy

Fitzpatrick founded OVO Energy in 2009. The company was the culmination of a five-year plan during which he received a licence from Ofgem, the UK energy regulator, and saved the £350,000 to start the business. As of July 2016, the company served 685,000 customers and employed over 1,000 people in Bristol and London. He acknowledged his inexperience with the energy market, and used the five years to study the industry; he credited the experience he gained with complex finances during those five years as critical to the company's survival. In 2014, Fitzpatrick won Entrepreneur of the Year at the National Business Awards.[2][3] In 2018, Fitzpatrick led OVO Energy in the successful acquisition of one of its competitors, Spark Energy.[4]

Conflict with Big Six energy suppliers

In autumn 2013, Fitzpatrick testified before Parliament's Energy and Climate Change Select Committee on the subject of rising energy prices. He testified that he could not explain why the "Big Six" energy suppliers, the six largest providers of gas and electricity in the United Kingdom, raised prices. He also noted that Ovo's prices had not increased because the wholesale cost of energy to suppliers remained unchanged. The BBC credited Fitzpatrick's testimony with being one of the drivers behind a 2014 Ofgem investigation into whether the market-dominating Big Six negatively limited competition.[3]

Use of company funds

In 2014 Fitzpatrick sold OVO stock to raise £2 million or 4.5% of the company to purchase his family home. The move drew criticism from The Guardian newspaper because in the previous year the company earned only £300,000 and had £9 million in liabilities.[5]

Imagination Industries

Fitzpatrick is the sole owner of Imagination Industries Ltd, a holding company which has OVO Energy among its subsidiaries alongside many smaller companies in retail energy supply and related businesses such as electric car charging. Three of the energy supply subsidiaries operate in Australia, France and Germany.[6] Another subsidiary, Vertical Aerospace Ltd, develops electrically powered VTOL aircraft.[7]

Formula One

Fitzpatrick, a self-described lifelong Formula One enthusiast, became owner of and a major investor in the Manor Marussia Formula One team in 2015, taking over after the collapse of the team's previous parent company. Partnering with former Sainsbury's executive Justin King, who joined as interim chairman but did not directly invest in the team, Fitzpatrick contributed £30 million in personal funds to Manor Marussia and re-built the team run by Graeme Lowdon and John Booth after some of its assets had been auctioned off to repay the debts.[8][9] On 6 January 2017 it was reported that Manor Racing had entered administration, and were on the verge of collapsing.[10] On 27 January 2017, the team collapsed after administrators failed to secure a sale of the business.

References
  1. "Stephen FITZPATRICK". Companies House. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  2. Stinson, Jamie (13 April 2015). "To the Manor bound: Our profile of Stephen Fitzpatrick". The Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  3. Smale, Will (28 April 2014). "Stephen Fitzpatrick: Taking on the big six energy firms". BBC. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  4. "Ofgem appoints OVO Energy to take on customers of Spark Energy Supply Limited". Ofgem. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  5. Macalister, Terry (27 July 2014). "Ovo Energy founder extracts £2m for house purchase". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  6. "Imagination Industries Ltd: Annual Report to 31 December 2018". Companies House. pp. 47–50. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  7. "Vertical Aerospace Ltd: Annual Report". Companies House. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  8. Johnson, Daniel (4 March 2015). "Manor owner Stephen Fitzpatrick throws in £30 million of his own money to save beleaguered team". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  9. Noble, Jonathan; Beer, Matt (4 March 2015). "Manor worth saving, says new investor Stephen Fitzpatrick". Autosport. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  10. Benson, Andrew (6 January 2017). "Manor Racing enter administration and are on brink of collapse". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
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