Richard Harpin

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Richard Harpin
Born (1964-09-10) 10 September 1964 (age 59) [1]
Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England
NationalityBritish
Education Royal Grammar School, Newcastle
Alma mater University of York
OccupationChief Executive
TitleChairman of Homeserve plc
Children3 [1]
Website richardharpin.com

Richard David Harpin (born 1964) is the founder and CEO of Homeserve, an international home repairs and improvements business.

Contents

Early life

Harpin was born in Huddersfield [2] and educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle, before going on to the University of York. [3]

Career

Harpin joined Procter & Gamble in 1986 to pursue a marketing career. [2] He worked at Procter & Gamble until 1990 before joining Deloitte as a management consultant. [3]

HomeServe

In 1993 Harpin and Jeremy Middleton established HomeServe as a joint venture with South Staffordshire Water and built it into one of the United Kingdom's largest home emergency businesses. [2]

In 2001, HomeServe expanded its reach by introducing Doméo, a joint venture with Veolia in France. [4] In 2004, HomeServe underwent a demerger from South Staffs Water and became publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange. [5]

In early 2023, HomeServe underwent a significant development as it was sold in a take-private deal to the Canadian investment firm Brookfield Asset Management for £4.1 billion. [6] Harpin emphasised Brookfield's role as a "long-term investor in growth," expressing the intention to accelerate expansion and contribute to the decarbonisation agenda. [7] Harpin held a 7.2% stake in HomeServe, with his wife owning 4.7% shareholding. [8] Their combined stake is worth £440 million. [8]

Investments

Harpin founded The Enterprise Trust [9] to inspire young people to consider entrepreneurship as a career [10] by creating skills-based apprenticeships and injecting £1 million each year into youth enterprise support. [11]

In 2015, he also founded an investment fund, Growth Partner, that has invested in Crafter's Companion, run by Sara Davies MBE, [12] in clothing business, Passenger, [13] and in Stubble & Co. [14] Harpin believes there is huge potential to scale-up British business and unlock growth in medium sized businesses, by sharing his business learnings – the 8 Secrets to building a £billion business - and supporting the founders on their growth journey. [15]

He is a member of the Apprenticeship Ambassadors Network. [16]

In 2013, Harpin and his wife bought their village pub, The Alice Hawthorn Inn in Nun Monkton, to prevent its closure. It won Yorkshire Life magazine's Dining Pub of the Year award in 2017. [17] They also helped revive the Nun Monkton Ferryboat across the River Ouse in 2017 which had been closed since 1952. [18]

In 2023, Richard Harpin acquired Business Leader magazine, including the Business Leader Awards, Scale-Up UK Summit, and Scale-Up awards. [19] In 2024, Business Leader will launch a new peer-to-peer community for founders, entrepreneurs, and CEOs to support growth in the UK’s 110,000 medium sized businesses, helping them to become highly productive large companies. [20]

Political activity

Harpin is a Conservative Party donor. [21]

Personal life

Harpin has one daughter and two sons. [22]

In 2023, the Sunday Times Rich List estimated his net worth at £630 million. [23]

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References

  1. 1 2 "HARPIN, Richard David" . Who's Who . Vol. 2019 (online Oxford University Press  ed.). A & C Black.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. 1 2 3 Richard Harpin, the home emergencies expert who commutes by helicopter Independent, 25 March 2006
  3. 1 2 Richard Harpin: Rich List Profiles Birmingham Post, 14 January 2008
  4. ↑ "Veolia Environnement and HomeServe Acquire Domeo SAS". Mergr.com. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  5. ↑ Saeed Shah (24 February 2004). "South Staffs plans to demerge water arm". Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  6. ↑ "Brookfield Asset Management acquires HomeServe for £4.08B". McCarthy. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  7. ↑ Daniel Thomas and Harriet Agnew (19 May 2022). "Brookfield strikes £4bn deal for UK's HomeServe". Financial Times. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  8. 1 2 Freeman, Simon. "HomeServe boss and wife in line for £440m from buyout". The Times . ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  9. ↑ Kelly, Liam (2 September 2018). "Q&A with angel investor Richard Harpin". The Sunday Times. ISSN   0956-1382 . Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  10. ↑ "Charity Details: The Enterprise Trust". beta.charitycommission.gov.uk. 31 March 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  11. ↑ "Enterprise Trust". www.enterprise-trust.co.uk. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  12. ↑ "Growth Partner adds to senior investment team". Private Equity Wire. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  13. ↑ "PwC advises responsible outdoor brand Passenger on its £15m investment from Growth Partner". PwC. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  14. ↑ "Stubble & Co gets multi-million-pound investment to drive growth". Fashion Network. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  15. ↑ Ronnie Dungan (8 March 2024). "Learn the 8 secrets to a £billion business". Elite Business Magazine. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  16. ↑ Apprenticeship Ambassadors Network
  17. ↑ Barnett, Ben (16 March 2019). "Nun Monkton - peaceful place boasts a community ferryboat". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  18. ↑ Stephen, Lewis (20 August 2018). "All aboard the Nun Monkton ferry". The Press. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  19. ↑ "Ascot Group Completes Sale of Business Leader Magazine to Richard Harpin". Ascot Group. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  20. ↑ Andrew McLaughlan (15 February 2024). "Welcome to the new Business Leader". Business Leader. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  21. ↑ Syal, Rajeev (23 April 2015). "Tory donor is boss of firm fined £30.6m for mis-selling insurance". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  22. ↑ "HomeServe's Richard Harpin: How I built a £4bn business". Sunday Times. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  23. ↑ "Sunday Times Rich List 2023". Sunday Times. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
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