Octopus Group founders win entrepreneur award

The pair set up Octopus with “no money and no experience” while on a graduate training programme in 2000.

Chris and Simon claimed that almost everyone believed they would fail, but said their passion and “terminator gene” saw them through.

Over the past few years, Octopus has entered a number of new industries, including energy and healthcare.

Octopus Energy has become the UK’s fastest-growing and highest-rated energy supplier and now has more than 100,000 customers.

The company has invested over £1bn building – and in some cases operating – care homes, GP surgeries, retirement villages, hospitals and special needs schools throughout the UK.

Octopus Group also includes Octopus Investments and Octopus Property.

The co-founders of Octopus were also awarded ‘Master Entrepreneur of the Year’ by the judging panel, which acknowledged the duo’s accomplishments over the last 17 years.

The panel of prominent business figures described Octopus as a “role model business of our time”.

Simon, who is also the CEO of Octopus Group, said: “Putting our customers at the heart of everything we do has been the driving force behind Octopus since we founded it 17 years ago.

“We set up Octopus because we wanted to make a real difference to people’s lives in industries that affect their everyday life – whether its financial services, healthcare or energy and protecting our planet.”

Chris added: “We have worked hard to build Octopus and are extremely proud of the impact we are having on the industries we have entered.

“We now have more than 550 people working tirelessly to help us create better outcomes for our customers and change the way energy, healthcare and financial services are provided in the UK.”