Simon is passionate about the environment.
For the past 19 years his main focus has been building up Ground Control Ltd to be a highly respected, multi-award winning environmental services business looking after over 60,000 sites in the UK and for which he received the UK’s EY Entrepreneur of the Year award for Transformational leadership in 2018 and British Business Excellence Award’s Entrepreneur Of The Year in 2021. In addition to this, he has also focused significant energy on other environmental initiatives.
He has built over 100 wind turbines through Solar Ventus that he founded in 2010 which currently supplies renewable electricity to over 2,600 households in the UK. He is the founder of Future Motors which retrofits 40%+ more efficient electric motors to businesses in the UK and he has founded XLinks in 2019 to power 3.6GW of electricity to the UK from an HVDC sub-sea cable link from solar panels and wind turbines in the Moroccan desert – approx. 8% of UK electricity needs. Simon also founded Skyports and Levitate Capital to accelerate the world’s trajectory to sustainable aerial mobility.
Simon is an ex-McKinsey consultant and Morgan Stanley Derivatives analyst. He holds a Master’s degree with Distinction in Economics, Engineering and Management from Oxford University and an MBA degree with Honours from Harvard Business School.
1. What values are most important to you as a leader?
Operating a business with fairness and integrity and everyone is challenged to be the best they can be.
2. Who or what is your biggest inspiration?
Leaders who have been able to build and sustain incredible organisations and operate with strong values.
3. Best piece of advice you have been given?
When you follow your dreams – the world conspires to help you (The Alchemist).
4. What would you tell your younger self?
Life is a marathon not a sprint.
5. What has been your most important or profound lesson as a leader?
Taking over a failing organisation on one of the acquisitions we made. The job of turning it around was 10x harder than I thought it would be and taught me a lot about leadership.
