Richard David Harpin (born 10 September 1964) is the founder and CEO of

Homeserve HomeServe is a British multinational home emergency repairs and improvements business based in Walsall, England. It operates in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, France, Spain, Japan and Germany. Established in 1993, HomeServe was list ...

, an international home repairs and improvements business.

Early life

Harpin was born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

Richard Harpin, the home emergencies expert who commutes by helicopter
Independent, 25 March 2006 and educated at the

Royal Grammar School, Newcastle The Royal Grammar School (RGS), Newcastle upon Tyne, is a coeducational private day school for pupils aged between 7 and 18 years. Founded in 1525 by Thomas Horsley, the Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne, it received royal foundation by Queen Eliz ...

, before going on to the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

.Richard Harpin: Rich List Profiles
Birmingham Post, 14 January 2008

Career

Harpin joined

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...

in 1986 to pursue a marketing career. He worked at Procter & Gamble until 1990 before joining

Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...

as a

management consultant Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultant ...

HomeServe

In 1993 Harpin and Jeremy Middleton established

HomeServe HomeServe is a British multinational home emergency repairs and improvements business based in Walsall, England. It operates in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, France, Spain, Japan and Germany. Established in 1993, HomeServe was list ...

as a joint venture with

South Staffordshire Water South Staffordshire Water plc known as South Staffs Water is a United Kingdom, UK water industry, water supply company owned by a privately owned utilities company serving parts of Staffordshire, the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, as well ...

and built it into one of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

's largest home emergency businesses. In 2001, HomeServe expanded its reach by introducing Doméo, a joint venture with Veolia in France. In 2004, HomeServe underwent a demerger from South Staffs Water and became publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange. 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. Harpin emphasised Brookfield's role as a "long-term investor in growth," expressing the intention to accelerate expansion and contribute to the decarbonisation agenda. Harpin held a 7.2% stake in HomeServe, with his wife owning 4.7% shareholding. Their combined stake is worth £440 million.

Investments

Harpin founded The Enterprise Trust to inspire young people to consider entrepreneurship as a career by creating skills-based apprenticeships and injecting £1 million each year into youth enterprise support. In 2015, he also founded an investment fund, Growth Partner, that has invested in Crafter's Companion, run by

Sara Davies Sara Davies (born 23 April 1984) is a British businesswoman, entrepreneur, and television personality. She is the founder and owner of Crafter's Companion, a company she started while a student at the University of York. In April 2019 it was ...

MBE, in clothing business, Passenger, and in Stubble & Co. He is a member of the

Apprenticeship Ambassadors Network The Apprenticeship Ambassadors Network is an employer-led body sponsored by the Skills Funding Agency in England. Its remit is to encourage more employers to become involved in apprenticeships in England. The Network is the successor body to the ...

. In 2013, Harpin and his wife bought their village pub, The Alice Hawthorn Inn in

Nun Monkton Nun Monkton is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated northwest of York at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Nidd, Nidd. Cottages and houses are grouped around a v ...

, to prevent its closure. It won ''Yorkshire Life'' magazine's Dining Pub of the Year award in 2017. They also helped revive the Nun Monkton Ferryboat across the River Ouse in 2017 which had been closed since 1952. In 2023, Richard Harpin acquired ''Business Leader'' magazine, including the ''Business Leader'' Awards, Scale-Up UK Summit, and Scale-Up awards. 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.

Political activity

Harpin was a Conservative Party donor. In April 2025, it was reported that Harpin had ceased donations to the party.

Personal life

Harpin has one daughter and two sons. In 2023, ''The Sunday Times'' Rich List estimated his net worth at £630 million.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harpin, Richard 1964 births Living people Alumni of the University of York Conservative Party (UK) donors English businesspeople