On the move: Bulb appoints CFO; Octopus Energy Germany announces CEO

In our latest industry appointment round-up Bulb announces a new chief financial officer while Octopus has announced a chief executive for Octopus Energy Germany, after acquiring Munich-based utility 4hundred. Meanwhile, the Offshore Wind Industry Council has announced the appointment of a new co-chair.

Bulb

London-based power supplier Bulb has revealed that EasyJet Holidays chief operating officer Paul Ablin will become the energy retailer’s chief financial officer in March 2021.

Ablin has spent a decade in senior financial management positions within the group, overseeing key functions including operations, risk, property, and commercial finance.

He joins a number of new appointments made by Bulb in recent months including fellow former EasyJet employee Lis Blair as chief marketing and growth officer, Lionel Guicherd-Callin as chief product officer, and John Marshall as chief technology officer.

In response to his appointment, Ablin said: “Bulb is a fast growing and exciting company changing the energy industry for the better. I’m delighted to be joining as CFO to help the company on its mission of providing green energy to 100 million members around the world.”

Hayden Wood, co-founder and chief executive of Bulb, said: “I’m thrilled to welcome Paul to our senior leadership team. His experience in senior financial and operational roles will help us on our journey as we aim to reach 100 million households around the world, building technology that will shape the way people manage their energy in the future.”

Octopus Energy Germany

Octopus has launched a German division after acquiring Munich-based 4hundred last year.

Heading up the new company, known as Octopus Energy Germany, is Andrew Mack who founded 4hundred and was the former head of strategy at Ovo Energy.

Octopus Energy Germany is targeting 1 million customers by 2024 and has committed to fund this expansion with an initial investment of €80 million in the market.

Commenting on his appointment, Mack said: “Germany took an early lead in the green energy transition, serving as a role model to many other countries around the world. But despite the impressive achievements in greening its power generation, Germany now has the highest prices for electricity in Europe – which is why customers are still reluctant to adopt clean technologies such as electric cars or heat pumps.

“Our tech-enabled tariffs will give German households and EV owners access to cheaper greener power, supporting the government in its efforts to supercharge the uptake of EVs and reach its 2030 climate goals.

“Combining our knowledge of the market and Octopus’ industry-leading tech platform, we’re confident that we can make a big green dent in the German energy sector in less than 4 years. Throw in contract freedom too and we’re confident we will have one million customers by 2024.”

Offshore Wind Industry Council

The Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) has announced the appointment of a new co-chair who will steer the organisation through the next phase of implementing the offshore wind sector deal with government.

Vattenfall’s UK country manager Danielle Lane is taking over from Orsted’s Benj Sykes, who has led the offshore wind sector as co-chair of the joint government and industry body for the past six-and-a-half-years.

Lane said: “Offshore wind is already powering the green industrial revolution in the UK, and so much of the momentum behind the industry’s expansion over the last decade is down to the tireless work of my predecessor.

“Now we look to the future, and the priorities which will enable us to realise the prime minister’s goal of offshore wind powering every home in the country by 2030.

“Firstly, I want us to really focus on building the supply chain and bringing skilled green jobs to new parts of the country. This is crucial if the industry is going to make a meaningful contribution to the levelling up agenda and rebuilding the economy.

“Secondly, we have to further increase diversity within the industry to make it an attractive and accessible career to the widest possible talent pool.

“Thirdly, we need to make sure we the right planning framework is in place: spatially – to ensure we can sensitively accommodate and coordinate the infrastructure for 40GW of capacity with other marine and land users; sectorally – to identify how we unlock economic growth powered by renewable electricity; and timely – to ensure the system processes planning applications as quickly as possible to keep a pipeline of projects moving forward. That’s really important to meeting net zero targets and building the supply chain.”