The former food delivery executive who was employed as Boris Johnson’s cost-of-living tsar is to be the next boss of Ovo Energy, Britain’s third-biggest domestic gas and electricity supplier.
Sky News has learnt that David Buttress, who turned Just Eat from a start-up into a multibillion pound company, will be named later on Wednesday as Ovo’s new chief executive.
He will replace Raman Bhatia, whose appointment as CEO of Starling Bank was announced earlier this month.
Mr Buttress, who will start at Ovo in May, spent the second half of 2022 working with Mr Johnson, the then prime minister, on initiatives to tackle the cost of living – with energy prices proving to be a key driver of soaring inflation.
He stepped down as chief executive of Just Eat in 2017, citing family reasons, and has since been a venture partner at 83North, an early-stage investor.
His appointment at Ovo represents a significant upgrade of the company’s management, following the recent arrival of Justin King, the former J Sainsbury boss.
OVO has 4m energy customers in the UK, placing it third in the market behind Centrica’s British Gas and Octopus Energy.
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Under Stephen Fitzpatrick, OVO’s founder, the company positioned itself as a challenger brand offering superior service to the industry’s established players.
In recent weeks, however, it has been at the centre of a public row over the sums it has taken out of customers’ accounts following public complaints made by Victoria Coren Mitchell, the writer and broadcaster.
OVO’s transformational moment came in 2020, when it bought the retail supply arm of SSE, transforming it overnight into one of Britain’s leading energy companies.
Other big players in the sector include EDF and Scottish Power, which is owned by Spain’s Iberdrola.
Sources said that Mr Buttress’s digital expertise had been of particular interest to OVO’s board.
He is likely to focus on sharpening the company’s customer service function as well as exploring ways to diversify its products and services.
Last summer, the company announced a £200m secondary share sale which saw existing investors Mayfair Equity Partners and Morgan Stanley Investment Management increasing their stakes in the company.
Other investors include Mitsubishi Corporation, the Japanese conglomerate.
OVO also owns a technology platform called Kaluza, which was set up to license its software to other energy suppliers, and provides customers with smart electric vehicle charging and heat pumps.
The news of Mr Buttress’s appointment comes in the same week that Ofgem, the industry regulator, launched a review of the future of the price cap.
OVO has had a fractious relationship with Ofgem at times, which Mr King is focused on improving, according to industry sources.
Mr Fitzpatrick remains involved in the company as its founder, although he is also devoting time to his New York-listed aviation start-up, Vertical.
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OVO declined to comment on Wednesday morning.
