Chris Hulatt was a trainee fund manager on Mercury Asset Management’s grad program when he met Simon Rogerson and Guy Myles. At the turn of the millennium, the trio went on to found Octopus Group, the parent company of six financial and energy firms.
At 23, Hulatt had only been working for two and a half years. But just a brief taste of the corporate world was enough to convince him to put his all into making Octopus Investments a success.Hulatt never did have to go back to the 9-to-5 grind for another employer. He’s still co-running Octopus Group which now employs over 2,500 people and serves 2.5 million customers.
“We spent much of 2000 calling thousands of people to try to persuade them to invest in this startup fund manager company they'd never heard of run by three very young people who didn't exactly have a long pedigree in the financial industry,” Hulatt says. “It was super hard.” By the end of the year, after many noes, the young founders had convinced 85 people to inject around $2 million into Octopus Investments.
One of the planet's most natural defenses against climate change and a key element in sustainable products is found in wine bottles around the world. Scientists and engineers say cork has been used to make several products in everyday life, from flooring to insulation, and the process of harvesting it leaves a small carbon footprint.