“Most entrepreneurs are not risk lovers. They are control lovers.”

If the UK Prime Minister and Chancellor created an identical image of the chief executive that best fit their vision of the UK’s corporate future, the result could be something like Octopus Energy’s Greg Jackson.

Ecological certificates? Box checked: Octopus invests in renewable energy projects, and Jackson says green energy can lower bills. “We are sending messages to customers to let them know that during windy times we will provide them with free electricity beyond normal consumption,” he says, adding that “everyone loves a deal.”

Innovation? Tick: Kraken, the Octopus software platform that manages everything from customer service to individual household energy use, has attracted interest and investment in the company, including from Al Gore’s Sustainable Energy Fund.

Bootstraps upbringing? Jackson was raised in Yorkshire by a single mother who, while working full time to care for her three children, campaigned for nuclear disarmament and women’s rights. Members of the left in the UK government such as Angela Rayner, whom Jackson met the day before this interview to discuss workers’ rights, would certainly have approved.

In the run-up to the summer elections in Great Britain, Jackson’s view was demanded by the Labor Party in an attempt to strengthen its ties with business. “Both Keir Starmer (Prime Minister) and Rachel Reeves (Chancellor) have spent a lot of time meeting people like us.”

The octopus’ rapid development explains why. Since Jackson founded it in 2015, the energy company has grown from virtually forgotten to become the UK’s second largest household energy supplier, with over 7 million electricity and gas customers. Acquisitions have helped: Octopus acquired 1.5 million Bulb customers in a state-backed deal two years ago after the latter’s collapse, and added another 1.3 million last year with the acquisition of Shell’s household energy business.

Jackson was a prominent critic of the lax regulatory environment that led to Bulb’s collapse as new companies were encouraged to enter the UK energy market without adequate controls. But Octopus’ development has irritated its domestic rivals. The group, which includes British Gas owner Centrica, filed a legal challenge in 2022, arguing that the government unfairly favored Octopus in its takeover of Bulb. The case was later dismissed.

Jackson attributes Octopus’ growth to poor customer service in the energy market, with more established suppliers traditionally deceiving and infuriating their consumers with opaque pricing, lots of fine print in contracts and long wait times for connections. Some negative reviews online show that Octopus hasn’t escaped customer criticism either, but it is rated higher than many of its competitors on sites like Trustpilot. “If you call Octopus, 95% of the time the person you’re talking to will be able to answer your question right away,” Jackson says. “They don’t have to send you to other departments, they don’t have to suspend you. Thanks to Kraken, we have one, very modern system that connects everything. . . while in other companies one department deals with measurements, another deals with settlements, another deals with removals, etc.”

Octopus has become synonymous with the purple logo, and plush versions can be found in his luxurious central London office. The brand’s playful nature and the way it communicates with consumers (smart meter customers can, for example, spin the “Wheel of Fortune” online to win cash loans) are reminiscent of the widely copied innovations introduced by Sir Richard Branson in the long – enlisted flying experience with Virgin Atlantic. Like Branson, Jackson isn’t afraid of the spotlight. When he appeared Drives to a desert island last year his selections included, unusually, BBC Radio 4’s shipping forecast and Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler.

Not because he plans to take too many risks with the company he built. “Most entrepreneurs I know don’t love risk, they prefer control.” I treat this song as a warning to never rest on my laurels. “There is a saying that says: you never count your money while sitting at the table. Once the deal is finalized, there will be ample time for counting.

Octopus’ latest round of financing valued it at around $9 billion – an amount that, if it were to seek a public listing, would catapult the energy group straight into the FTSE 100 index. Jackson owns nearly 5% of the shares; the other shareholders are Tokyo Gas and Canadian Pension Plan Investments.

But Octopus is also a tech company, and not just because a clothed Jackson usually wears the requisite black tech CEO T-shirt. Kraken has been licensed to Octopus’ rivals, including EDF, using the platform, and it is now available to other utilities. Several UK water companies, including Severn Trent, are also customers.

Kraken brings Octopus into the world of enterprise software dominated by global companies such as SAP and Salesforce. There are many times more of them than groups fighting for dominance in the energy supply in Great Britain. “Who do you think Greg would rather be – Centrica or SAP?” my rival asked me. Does Jackson consider Octopus an energy supplier or enterprise software group? “We are neither one nor the other. . . We are more Amazon or Uber. Each has created software platforms that allow them to reinvent their sectors. Uber isn’t just Addison Lee with software. And Amazon is not Argos with better software.

Jackson has a background in technology. He left school at 16 to code a computer game on his ZX Spectrum, a machine so basic that it took up to 45 minutes to load ancient games from a cartridge. (It was a short-lived outing and the wrestling game he wrote wasn’t good, he says).

After returning to education to take his A-levels, he read economics at Cambridge and began a business career that included four years at Procter & Gamble, founding several technology companies and working as a mirror manufacturer.

I wonder how much of an influence his campaigning mother had on his career. “I realized quite early that business opens the way to innovation. So instead of running a campaign, you just do things. And I always liked just doing things.

“Every customer you sign a contract with, every turbine you build, every customer who licenses your software delivers measurable results. I think that’s how you change the world.”

But surely a true environmentalist wouldn’t work with water companies, given their habitual polluting of Britain’s rivers and coastlines with raw sewage? “No one will get better unless they rely on modern technology,” Jackson says carefully. “It means you can be more efficient and spend money on things that really matter.”

Kraken has also signed a deal with a broadband provider, and other services may be coming soon. However, despite the growth prospects, there are many potential pitfalls. Winter is approaching and electricity prices are rising in the UK as the government raises the energy price cap. A recent move to test the winter fuel surcharge previously granted to all UK pensioners has sparked fears that poorer pensioners could freeze to death.

The UK government has said people who miss a payment will be eligible for pension credit. Jackson recently added that energy companies should be prepared to help; Octopus has a £30m ‘relief fund’ which will be used to help pensioners this winter. It previously donated 20,000 free electric blankets.

Jackson says it’s possible to increase the amount of renewable energy, but not without reforming the way batteries and wind farms are connected to the power grid. “We need to reform grid connections so that we can connect new energy quickly. We have a solar farm in County Durham that will wait 13 years to be connected. It’s completely crazy.”

He supports Labor’s proposals to reform the planning system so that more renewable energy facilities can be built. He also wants to improve energy prices. He advocates “location pricing” so that regions that produce more renewable energy benefit. Scotland, with its strong winds, “would have the cheapest electricity in Europe”.

What about the future of the company? The company continues to grow thanks to private investment, but Jackson’s contacts in the new government would certainly approve of Octopus being listed on the London Stock Exchange. It certainly looks ready – it recorded its first annual pre-tax profit of £283m in the year ended 30 April 2023 and has appointed experienced City figures to its board: Gavin Patterson, former chief executive of BT, is chairman For example, Kraken Technologies.

Jackson is neutral about this prospect. “We have never been short of capital” and Octopus shareholders “continue to support long-term investments.” “Many international exchanges have contacted us to partner with us,” he says. “We have no immediate plans to go public,” while a London listing “wasn’t really the subject of our analysis.” This will not impress Reeves et al. But as Jackson and Octopus bang the drum for the energy transition, you suspect they won’t mind.