My Journey from Laybys to Leader

As I walk through this story and especially as we get into the real beginnings of my journey to where we are today, you will notice that I didn’t start this with a grand plan, I was not your typical founder or entrepreneur. I had no management experience, no real business acumen and no right to be successful. My journey has been a culmination of naivety, dumb luck, right place, right time and a whole heap of ‘f&#k it, what's the worst that can happen?'.

I tell this story purely to show that if I can do this, every one of you can too. And by 'this', I am in no way suggesting that I am the pinnacle of success, still far from it. Just merely that I have made it out of some dark places and on a relatively successful path, both personally and professionally.

Now, you'd be forgiven for thinking that ChargedEV's story kicked off in 2013 when trailblazing electric vehicles like the Renault Zoe and Nissan Leaf were rare sightings. But the real tale began much earlier and in some ways a much darker place.

‍Finding my Way into the Workplace

Despite being a bit of a troubled youth and a bit of a class clown, I left school with half-decent grades but skipped the college route to jump straight into working life to start earning. After completing an apprenticeship and sampling a variety of office jobs, I eventually found myself at Auto Windscreens in Chesterfield, working my way through their call centre. Six months in, I saw an opportunity and grabbed it. I applied for a position as a Deployment Management Specialist, essentially managing the schedules of technicians and getting emergency appointments booked as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Within a year, my efforts paid off, and I was elevated to a Team Leader role, overseeing In-Car Services like black box telematics devices for our parent company Aviva.

This was my first real taste of what a career could look like and my aspirations were growing.

Then, in 2008 the company announced a spate of redundancies, and just like that, I was back to square one.

‍Financial Crunches and Emotional Bumps

Now, the backdrop to all of this was complicated. My fiancée, Nicola and I had just bought our first home in November 2007 during the Northern Rock crisis and had fixed a mortgage at a high interest rate for five years, before the sudden interest rate and property value drop. I had taken on temporary telesales roles after temporary telesales roles and could not seem to find my feet. The pressure of not being able to find stable employment and our crippling debt led to a very challenging period in my life.

The situation sapped my confidence and my motivation leading me into a severe depression that also put immense strain on my relationships. Nicola was worried, my family was worried, and I had become withdrawn and dejected around the people who were once where I felt most comfortable.

In the darkest of times, the weight of my situation and sheer scale of our mortgage debt was a shadow that loomed over us, uninvited and unyielding. Bailiffs didn't just knock on our door; they hammered dread into our hearts. We were trying to stitch together plans for a wedding, a celebration of love, while I was drowning in a silent battle against despair. I put on a brave face for Nicola, trying to shield her from the depths my depression and the severity of our situation.

Each day felt like I was standing on the edge, too close for comfort, almost losing my balance. Time and again, I found myself parked in secluded spots, away from the hustle – laybys, parks, hidden corners of the world where I could be alone with my thoughts, which whispered of a final escape. 'Maybe my absence would be a relief', 'Maybe it would erase the strain I've etched into the lives of those I cherish'. In those moments of deepest solitude, the belief that my disappearance might pass unnoticed, or worse, bring relief, edged me closer to a breaking point.

For years I had fought to prove that I was worthy, for some reason during childhood and adolescence, I had taken on the notion that I wasn’t, that I was useless to everyone and now, I was living up to it.

During those tough times, there were moments when I was able to gather myself and take on various handyman jobs to make ends meet, mostly fitting laminate floors after swapping my car for a small van. Eventually, I managed to find a permanent job at a Tesco distribution centre stacking cages. It was far from glamorous, but it gave me a small amount of stability I so desperately needed, both financially and emotionally. 

Even during this time with a bit of stability and a permanent role, I was fighting a constant state of depression, on occasion waking up for my 6 a.m. start, getting ready for work, leaving the house and then finding somewhere to park my car, call in sick and then cover myself with a blanket to try to go back to sleep to escape my thoughts of escape.

‍The Penny Drop and  Road to Recovery

In 2010, Nicola surprised me with the news that shortly before we were due to get married, we were expecting our first child. What should have been one of the happiest times of my life, was just mute internally.

Our wedding soon came and went, 9 months flew by, then suddenly, on January 13th 2011, and as cliché as it may sound, my world changed forever. Olivia Pymm was born. 

That night, as I lay in bed alone, sleep eluded me entirely. I was restless, turning over not just in bed, but also turning over thoughts in my mind – thoughts about how I had let circumstances overwhelm me, and what steps I needed to take to support my family. It was a turning point; I realised I couldn't afford to wallow in despair any longer. Giving up was no longer an option. It was time to start mapping out my road to recovery.

I threw myself back into the job market, seeking roles that could kickstart my career once again. After three months of unsuccessful applications, I landed a job with DAS Technology, a firm specialising in selling Sky TV to communal blocks of flats. As soon as I started in that role and got my feet beneath me, I started looking for opportunities as to where I wanted to go next within that business. Commercial Sales was an area that I thought I could look to develop into so tried every opportunity I could to get my face in front of the Directors and the Commercial Team until eventually a role came up that I applied for and was successful in becoming a Commercial Sales Coordinator. It was only another 6 months until I was offered a promotion to a Business Development Executive, with my first company car.

DAS Technology had branched into Renewable Energy and I had the opportunity to support commercial sales and projects which gave me my very first insights into Renewables, however, the solar Feed-In-Tariff began to wane, affecting our sales. I started exploring other avenues for the business and came across EV charging as a promising field.

‍The Final Straw and a New Beginning

Unfortunately, around a month later in October 2013, that business liquidated and I was again left without a job. This time though, I wasn't going to let this beat me, I wasn’t going to allow myself to slump back into a depression, I had become a bit relentless in my pursuit of a better life and I was willing to risk it all to get there.

I had already done the research, gained the knowledge and made the connections, there was an opportunity for me to go it alone. For around a week, I was throwing ideas around in my head, 'could I do this', 'do I have what it takes', 'what if this, what if that'.

Despite many of my family and friends telling me to just 'find another job', 'play it safe' and that I would be ‘back at the job centre’ in 6 months, I decided to roll the dice and give it a go, forming nuWorld Energy, with a silent business partner who had agreed to loan me £5,000 for a share in the business.

Initially, I was looking to consult for a range of Renewable technologies, including EV, but back in 2013, the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) was offering a grant for homeowners to install EV chargers. This quickly became my number one focus, not only helping people get chargers installed but also actively promoting the transition to EVs. Free advice? You bet. We offered it in abundance to anyone contemplating going electric.

I was engaging with EV drivers on social media and forums, just me, with my laptop in my dining room. Two days a week I would then jump in my car and drive up and down the Midlands and Yorkshire, delivering chargers to local installers and striking deals with car dealerships that were being neglected by the big boys.

While Chargemaster and POD Point were at the forefront, tying up deals with Renault & Nissan, their service struggled to meet the growing demand. This was our opportunity, we stepped up and filled the gap they left wide open. Before long, we were one of the leading resellers for Rolec EV.

‍Forging Community Ties

But we didn't stop there, I was driving a Nissan Leaf, I had lived it, I understood the challenges of switching to electric. Even on one occasion attempting Chesterfield to Tenby for a long weekend, ending with us being dropped off at a Rapid charger on a flatbed on the way home, Nicola was far from impressed. But I wanted to share the lessons that I had learnt to help others understand the sacrifices and risks, but also reap the rewards of EVs.

We hosted what I believe would have been a precursor to the now super popular Fully Charged Live, where we hosted a range of EVs and PHEVs at Chesterfield Football Ground. More than 400 people came from all over the North (and a few from down south) to view the cars, supported by 20 or so EV owners who joined us to talk to local people about the benefits of switching to electric.

‍Breaking Away and Stepping Up

Come 2015 following a difference of opinions around the future of the business, I decided to split the business away from my former business partner and start again on my own but I had a critical decision to make. Do I want a lifestyle business or should I push to see just how far I can take this? Keep it regional or take us National?

Another one of those moments where sheer naivety to the scale of the challenge ahead and a little bit of ‘f&#k it’ took over. The ChargedEV brand was launched with a clear vision to scale the business Nationally and become the UK’s leading independent EV charge point installer with a mandate to myself that I will keep going no matter what is thrown at me. 

At this point, we had already won a few local business awards, both Derbyshire Times & Sheffield City Region 'New Business of the Year', showing great success. This enabled us to start recruiting our first 4 qualified installers and 2 office-based team members to support growth whilst moving into our 2nd office at Silver House, Chesterfield.

Now I had other mouths to feed, the pressure had just been turned up and I needed to step up.

Every startup owner will probably tell you, things ain't always easy, but nothing can compare to the anxiety approaching payroll when you’re scaling as a small business. Chasing down debtors, being extra nice with suppliers, everything that can get that little bit of wiggle room. The night before, not quite enough in the bank, but a 'promise' from that project you completed last month, that they will finally pay in the morning. 

‍Gaining Momentum and Staying True to My Vision

2016 was a whirlwind. We landed partnerships with the likes of Tusker Direct and Close Brothers, taking a meaty 19% share of the domestic installation market, according to OLEV's stats. There were acquisition offers on the table from leading EVSE manufacturers, but I declined. My vision was bigger; I wanted ChargedEV to be hardware-agnostic and digitally streamlined for the next wave of EV adopters.

By 2017, we’d navigated through the labyrinth of grant changes, regulation updates, and shifts in consumer behaviour. We had scaled our operations to around 16 people delivering circa 300 installations per month. 

For the past 3+ years, I had worked tirelessly, 60+ hour weeks, 7 days a week, no holidays without my laptop and phone glued to me. Ironically, I was giving up time with my family, which was the reason I started. But, selfishly I recognised that I had an opportunity to make something big, have an impact on the lives of those around me and finally show that I am worthy and I have a purpose (that notion still drives me to this day).

It was high time to secure some investment that was needed to drive us forward and maximise the opportunity that was in front of us. And that’s when OVO Energy stepped onto the scene.
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Part Two: Coming Soon.

‍For everyone that had been part of my journey up to this point, I am eternally gratefully!