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Richard Harpin
British businessman (born 1964) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Richard David Harpin (born 10 September 1964) is the founder and CEO of Homeserve, an international home repairs and improvements business.
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Early life
Harpin was born in Huddersfield[2] and educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle, before going on to the University of York.[3]
Career
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Harpin joined Procter & Gamble in 1986 to pursue a marketing career.[2] He worked at Procter & Gamble until 1990 before joining Deloitte as a management consultant.[3]
HomeServe
In 1993 Harpin and Jeremy Middleton established HomeServe as a joint venture with South Staffordshire Water and built it into one of the United Kingdom's largest home emergency businesses.[2]
In 2001, HomeServe expanded its reach by introducing Doméo, a joint venture with Veolia in France.[4] In 2004, HomeServe underwent a demerger from South Staffs Water and became publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange.[5]
In early 2023, HomeServe underwent a significant development as it was sold in a take-private deal to the Canadian investment firm Brookfield Asset Management for £4.1 billion.[6] Harpin emphasised Brookfield's role as a "long-term investor in growth," expressing the intention to accelerate expansion and contribute to the decarbonisation agenda.[7] Harpin held a 7.2% stake in HomeServe, with his wife owning 4.7% shareholding.[8] Their combined stake is worth £440 million.[8]
Investments
Harpin founded The Enterprise Trust[9] to inspire young people to consider entrepreneurship as a career[10] by creating skills-based apprenticeships and injecting £1 million each year into youth enterprise support.[11]
In 2015, he also founded an investment fund, Growth Partner, that has invested in Crafter's Companion, run by Sara Davies MBE,[12] in clothing business, Passenger,[13] and in Stubble & Co.[14]
He is a member of the Apprenticeship Ambassadors Network.[15]
In 2013, Harpin and his wife bought their village pub, The Alice Hawthorn Inn in Nun Monkton, to prevent its closure. It won Yorkshire Life magazine's Dining Pub of the Year award in 2017.[16] They also helped revive the Nun Monkton Ferryboat across the River Ouse in 2017 which had been closed since 1952.[17]
In 2023, Richard Harpin acquired Business Leader magazine, including the Business Leader Awards, Scale-Up UK Summit, and Scale-Up awards.[18] In 2024, Business Leader will launch a new peer-to-peer community for founders, entrepreneurs, and CEOs to support growth in the UK’s 110,000 medium-sized businesses, helping them to become highly productive large companies.[19]
Political activity
Harpin was a Conservative Party donor.[20] In April 2025, it was reported that Harpin had ceased donations to the party.[21]
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Personal life
Harpin has one daughter and two sons.[22]
In 2023, The Sunday Times Rich List estimated his net worth at £630 million.[23]
In July 2025, Harpin published How to Make a Billion in Nine Steps, a business book outlining strategies for entrepreneurs based on his own experience building HomeServe and investing in scale-up companies.[24]
References
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