WHO SIGNED THIS OFF: FEBRUARY EDITION
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FEBRUARY EDITION:
WHO SIGNED THIS OFF?!
January has a reputation for being abstemious… sensible… boring. Not this one.
Donald Trump (who is certainly abstemious but could never be called boring) came into Davos like a wrecking ball. He managed to do the impossible: unite Europe (over Greenland) and unite the British media and political establishment (over the British military contribution to the war in Afghanistan).
In a wide-ranging Special Address to "beautiful Davos”, the President hailed his US economic miracle, told the Europeans in the room that they would all “be speaking German and a little Japanese” were it not for America’s entry into World War Two, and blamed the war in Ukraine on the “rigged” 2020 US election and the “crooked” media.
Amongst all of that, he still found time to cram in three disparaging references to the “Green New Scam”, describing it as “perhaps the greatest hoax in history”. Last word goes to former US Vice President Al Gore: “It was a classic Trump performance. I’d hate to be the fact checker who has to go through that speech…”
📻️ Change is afoot at Today, Radio 4’s flagship news show. Owenna Griffiths, editor for the last five years, is leaving. Her departure came a week after presenter Amol Rajan announced that he was off to set up his own business focused on the creator economy. And now The Observer has revealed that Emma Barnett is “discussing her next move,” while The Times speculates that Nick Robinson could be heading upstairs into the Head of News role. Rajan and Barnett were part of a plan to attract younger listeners – which may now need a reboot.
📺 For those trying to escape reality, Traitors again proved itself to be an utterly compelling watch. Aside from the sheer entertainment of the show, debate raged over whether Stephen was right to stay loyal to Rachel right to the last. From a PR and branding perspective, consensus seems to be that the £45k he arguably gave up would be more than made up by the promotional work he’ll gain from staying true to his nice guy persona.
🗞️ In Harpswood-related news, we were delighted for client Voyager Ventures – a VC investing in energy, industrial and climate technology companies that are foundational to future abundance – after it closed its third fund at $275million. You can read about it in the Wall Street Journal, Sifted and Handelsblatt.
🏆 Octopus Energy boss Greg Jackson was presented with the trophy for winning Britain’s Most Admired Company at the London Stock Exchange. Octopus is the youngest company by a distance to ever win the prestigious award, which is chosen by senior execs from the country’s most successful businesses.
✨ Harpswood ended the month on a high with engineering enterprise Rowden joining the ranks of our clients. The fast-growth Bristol-based firm specialises in designing and building mission-critical systems intended for use in edge environments, where communications, situational awareness and resilience must be maintained despite limited connectivity.
Finally, we loved hearing all of your feedback about the newsletter and welcome hearing any more - email us at whosignedthisoff@harpswood.com with your thoughts.
FOUNDERS UNFILTERED
"REALISING I COULD BUILD A MISSION-DRIVEN BUSINESS WHERE I WAS NOT THE PRODUCT"
This month Christophe Williams, CEO & Founder of Naked Energy, is in the hot seat. Naked Energy, a British design and engineering business, is leading the global innovation in solar thermal and solar PVT.
Naked Energy’s mission is to change energy for good by displacing fossil fuel in global commercial and industrial buildings. Its solar PVT technology delivers up to four times the carbon savings per m2 in comparison to conventional solar PV.
In one sentence - what was your lightbulb moment for starting the business?
Realising I could build a mission-driven business where I was not the product, shifting from selling my time as a creative service to scaling an independent technology.
What’s the one thing you hope never changes, no matter how big your business gets?
A sense of unified purpose to achieve our global ambition.
Which purpose-led company (other than your own) do you most admire, and why?
Patagonia - It backs its mission with action by pledging 1 percent of sales to environmental causes since 1985, publicly discouraging overconsumption, and restructuring ownership so that profits not reinvested in the business are directed to protecting and restoring nature.
What’s one book / podcast / article you think everyone should read?
The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
One word you hope people use to describe you - and one word for your business?
For me - ‘humble’, for the company - ‘purposeful’
What mistake are you glad you made?
We didn't have our core technology exactly right in the early days. But independent performance-testing meant we could address it.
Finish this sentence: Success looks like…
Success looks like building Naked Energy into a category-defining, purpose-led business that decarbonises heat at scale, while creating a culture where people thrive, do the best work of their careers, and go home proud and energised.
NEWS-O-METER
🤩 NAILED IT
The usually-staid Financial Conduct Authority played a blinder hiring ‘finfluencer’ (that’s a personal finance influencer to you and me) Cameron “Cazza” Smith to highlight its free car-loan-misselling compensation scheme.
Smith / Cazza boasts more than 400,000 followers on TikTok and will help the City regulator increase driver awareness to avoid claims firms who are likely to take a chunk of their compo. In the very act of making the hire, the FCA raised awareness of the issue.
🥶 FAILED IT
A row between global tech overlord Elon Musk and Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, over the use of Musk’s Starlink internet on planes saw the X boss bested. O’Leary said it would be a waste of money as Ryanair passengers didn’t use the internet on flights… and called Musk an “an idiot”. Musk suggested he could buy the airline… and called O’Leary “an utter idiot”. Oscar Wilde it was not. O’Leary went on to thank Musk for generating the publicity that had seen Ryanair’s sales rise by three per cent and offered him a free Ryanair ticket by way of gratitude.
🌍 HOSTILE CLIMATE
UK newspaper editorials turned decisively against climate action in 2025, a trend that looks set to continue this year.
Carbon Brief found that nearly 100 editorials opposed climate policies over the year, outnumbering supportive pieces for the first time. Not all of this opposition is without substance. Some raise legitimate concerns about how the costs of transition fall on those who can least afford it. Other coverage has been less restrained and more personal. The Daily Express recently (and incorrectly) claimed that Ed Miliband’s “net zero fanaticism” would cost taxpayers more than £9 trillion, a figure reached with highly questionable methodology. Public opinion, meanwhile, remains broadly supportive of climate action. The growing gap between the two is now hard to ignore.
🐝 B STING
Founders took a collective gulp when findings revealed the Series B funding crunch facing Europe’s climate tech sector.
The World Fund report found average European Series B rounds are 20% smaller than in the US, creating a $13.5B gap and forcing many capital-intensive climate tech startups (especially in hardtech and industrial sectors) to look abroad. Only 15% of European climate startups reach Series B, versus 25% in the US. The root cause is limited institutional capital, particularly pension funds, in European venture markets. Without reforms and a small $2.4B annually, Europe risks losing much of its homegrown climate innovation.
📱 SHARPE MOVE
BBC turns to YouTube in bid to reach younger audiences
In an initiative that would delight Siobhan Sharpe, the digital-obsessed PR consultant from spoof documentary W1A, the BBC has announced it will make programmes specifically for YouTube. The deal is seen as an attempt to reach a younger, digital-native audience. Recent data shows that Google-owned YouTube now reaches more people in the UK each month than the public broadcaster. Yet as its influence grows, so do questions about oversight. This week, it was criticised for pulling out of a UK audience measurement system, prompting concerns about transparency. Outside the UK, the BBC’s YouTube programmes will carry advertising, opening up a crucial new revenue stream for the corporation at a time when its funding model is once again under scrutiny. Original content is planned across entertainment, documentaries, children’s programming and news and sport, starting with the Winter Olympics this month.
💰 SQUARE MILE SQUARES UP
The London Stock Exchange reportedly unsubscribes from the Financial Times
City AM took a pot shot at bigger rival the FT by running a story which claims London Stock Exchange operator LSEG has ditched “hundreds” of FT subscriptions. It reported that LSEG feels the FT has increased political coverage at the expense of City news. The FT did not dignify the story with a response.
FROM THE WEBSITE
WHY GOOD WRITING MATTERS IN THE AGE OF AI
“Well that’s another load of AI slop!” This was a despairing cry heard loud and often in 2025 among people who cared about good copy. Marketing professionals whose jobs touched on content creation initially marvelled at the insane speed large language models, or LLMs, could pump out words. They quickly despaired as ChatGPT, the most popular of the LLMs, spewed out generic business-speak, pseudo-profound truisms and plain hallucinatory nonsense – all sprinkled with the ultimate AI giveaway, the em dash. But could the inexorable rise of AI – and more specifically Generative Engine Optimisation, or GEO – actually save good writing? You can read more on our blog.
HARPSWOOD RECOMMENDS
🎧 HEARD BY HARPSWOOD
When It Hits The Fan is the must-listen podcast for anyone in PR and comms. Its two presenters have decades of top level experience and really know their stuff. David Yelland was editor of The Sun (the first with a background in business journalism) and a partner at Brunswick, while Simon Lewis was comms chief for The Queen, Gordon Brown, Vodafone and Centrica. (His brother Will Lewis is CEO at the Washington Post.) They discuss three media stories in 25 minutes, giving them the space to get into finer detail. The most recent episode’s dive into the ownership of the Beckham brand is typical of their detailed analysis. The show is broadcast on Radio 4 on Wednesday at 4pm for linear listeners - or BBC Sounds or Spotify on demand.
🗣 MIND YOUR LANGUAGE
Leon boss John Vincent delivered a masterclass in plain speaking on the BBC’s Big Boss Interview. He talked with conviction about bring the purpose back to the restaurant chain, criticised a “toxic tax regime” and explained how weight-loss jabs were good news for his restaurant. More analysis here.
HARPSWOOD IRL
MEET OUR LONDON TEAM IN february AT:
🗓️ TEDxLondon Climate Curious Live @ The Conduit on Sunday 11 February
🗓️ Climate Tech Time @ The Conduit on Wednesday 25 February. Before the event we will also be hosting PR office hours. Email whosignedthisoff@harpswood.com to grab a slot.
🗓️ Climate Coffee a monthly networking opportunity @ The Nova Building on Thursday 26 February
🗓️ Venture Cafe London @ 1 Triton Square on Thursday 26 February