WHO SIGNED THIS OFF: MAY EDITION
cccc
MAY EDITION:
WHO SIGNED THIS OFF?!
Innovation Zero was the high point of last month as Harpswood took a stand at the event to meet old friends, build new relationships and offer a taster of media training.
We made a classic newbie exhibitor mistake by getting dropped off at the wrong Olympia entrance. Lugging countless boxes around the length and breadth of London’s largest historic venue on the hottest day of the year wasn’t ideal (although wearing high-vis jackets did make us feel important…) Friends of Harpswood also exhibiting included Arborea, makers of sustainable food and Sustainable Ventures, the home of climate tech. Octopus founder Greg Jackson spoke in a debate on the main stage. We ran through 50 media training taster sessions, spoke to more than 100 people and left pretty tired (but at least from the right exit).
Congratulations to synthetic fuel startup – and sometime Harpswood client – Rivan on raising £25 million in its Series A round. The ambitious business, founded by serial entrepreneur Harvey Hodd, will use the money to scale production. Its mission is to reduce the cost and increase the availability of synthetic fuel.
Kat James, joint managing director of Consultant Connect, spoke at the Health Service Journal Provider Summit. She was part of an esteemed panel giving insight into building resilience and “front door” initiatives in health.
📺 CUTS AT THE BBC
The BBC has announced plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs as it looks to deliver £500m in savings over the next two years. The move reflects mounting financial pressure on the broadcaster, driven by shifting audience habits and funding constraints. Interim director general Rhodri Talfan Davies has also said “no option is off the table”, including closing entire channels or services.
📻 GET IT OFF YOUR CHEST
An interesting insight into interview techniques on Radio 4’s Today programme from host Amol Rajan. Appearing as a guest on Armando Iannucci’s Strong Message Here (recommended in the last newsletter) he said: “Sometimes at the beginning I let them get their speech of their chest. They need to get something out of the interview. They want to land their points. But if you then fail to answer the questions and you just bloviate endlessly, I’m going to to get excited and I’m going to come after you…”
🎙️NEWMAN, NEW SHOW
Sky News has launched The Cathy Newman Show, a new flagship programme airing at 7pm, Monday to Thursday across TV and digital platforms. The show blends major interviews, exclusive investigations and debate in a more relaxed, conversational format. Presented from Westminster, it aims to deliver “friendly but forensic” discussions on the biggest UK and global stories.
☀️ THE MIDDLE AISLE…
Alongside the Yankee Candles and soldering irons, Lidl’s legendary ‘middle aisle’ will soon be stocking plug-in solar panels for only a few hundred quid. Requiring no professional installation, they offer something most low-carbon tech doesn’t: a way in for renters.
Other companies have also started trying to fix this gap in the low carbon tech market. British startup, Windfall Energy – which featured in the Sunday Times last Sunday – is developing a plug-and-play battery which allows renters to store cheap power and use it when prices rise. Octopus Energy’s Tenant Power tariff uses shared solar and storage to lower bills for social housing residents. While none of this will transform the grid overnight, it does start to fix a blind spot.
FOUNDERS UNFILTERED
"OUR GOAL IS TO DECARBONISE AVIATION"
This month James Hygate, CEO & Founder of Firefly, is in the hot seat. Firefly is developing a solution turning treated sewage waste, known as biosolids, into sustainable aviation fuel that can reduce jet emissions.
The company is building a commercial processing facility in Essex, with three of the UK’s water giants already committed to providing sewage as feedstock.
Firefly turns home-grown waste material into biocrude, which is then refined into sustainable aviation fuel. Firefly’s process removes the need for fossil fuels and can reduce lifecycle CO2 emissions by around 90%, while supporting UK energy security and helping protect flight costs from global fuel shocks.
What are you most excited about with your business right now?
We’re most excited about moving from vision to delivery: building our first commercial-scale Sewage to SAF facility and proving that our ‘Wet-to-Jet' platform is a repeatable model that we can roll out everywhere. We’ve engaged the best-in-class partners who are well versed in this breakthrough waste-to-energy ecosystem.
We’ve strengthened the team with people who know how to execute, and we’re now turning that platform into real projects that can scale globally and start saving carbon immediately.
What is your ultimate goal / mission?
Our purpose is to combat climate change by decarbonising aviation, and our vision is to deliver meaningful, measurable impact at gigatonne scale. To achieve this, we plan to establish and lead the Sewage Biosolids to Jet category, then expand globally across other wet biomass feedstocks using the same ‘Wet to Jet’ platform - building a repeatable infrastructure model that produces affordable SAF at scale.
Which purpose-led company (other than your own) do you most admire, and why?
I most admire Unreasonable Group for building purpose into the way the organisation operates, not just what it supports. Their community is grounded in shared values. They lead relationship-first, with a “We > I” mindset that brings founders, corporates, policymakers and capital into the same outcome.
What’s one podcast you think everyone should listen to?
For sustainable aviation, I like resources that stay grounded in what it will take to scale supply. ‘Sustainability in the Air’ is a strong podcast for that. More broadly, the book ‘Play Bigger’ is a useful reminder that the most valuable companies don’t just compete in markets - they define categories, then build the systems to lead them.
NEWS-O-METER
🤩 NAILED IT
King Charles’s diplomatic triumph in Washington made the Royal Family feel more relevant than it had done in years. During the course of the trip, the King teased Donald Trump by suggesting Americans would be speaking French if it wasn’t for the British, and presented the US leader with the original bell from wartime submarine HMS Trump. Flattered Trump described Charles as “the greatest king in my book…”
🥶 FAILED IT
Green Party leader Zack Polanski shared a social media post criticising the police for “repeatedly and violently kicking” the suspect in the Golders Green attacks as they arrested him. Polanski apologised for “sharing a tweet in haste” after he was criticised by Met Chief Sir Marl Rowley. He then seemingly backtracked on the apology by saying people in public service “should not be above scrutiny.” His poll ratings plunged after the incident.
🔥 HOT TAKE
Welsh voters in the May council elections are more concerned about the cost of living than climate change, a BBC report found. Even voters in Pontypridd, which suffered serious flooding just 18 months ago, are thinking more about taxes and money than the environment. Prof Wouter Poortinga, an environmental psychologist from Cardiff University, cited “the finite pool of worry” as a theory of why this is happening.
HARPSWOOD RECOMMENDS
🎧 HEARD BY HARPSWOOD
Sean Farrington’s Big Boss Interview with Octopus Energy CEO Greg Jackson is a useful reminder that plain English is not the enemy of complexity. Energy bills, grid capacity, heat pumps and smart tariffs are not subjects that usually set pulses racing. But Greg talks about them clearly, directly and with the listener in mind. He manages to explain why bills are coming down in April but are “very likely” to rise again in July, while also making the case for solar panels, EV chargers and heat pumps. The interview is a case study in clear communication.
HARPSWOOD IRL
MEET OUR LONDON TEAM IN MAY AT:
🗓️ Deeptech Venture Cafe @ One Triton Square on Thursday 14th May.
🗓️ Climate Tech Time @ The Conduit on Wednesday 27th May.
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 @ St James’ Cafe on Thursday 28th May