What EV rapid charging network, InstaVolt, look for in their people

Alastair Paterson our consultant managing the role
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With COP26 recently taking place in Glasgow, climate change is very much top of mind for individuals and businesses alike. We are all looking for small ways in which we can reduce our impact on the environment around us, and this has driven the demand for electric vehicles (EVs) as we try to reduce our carbon footprint by ditching petrol or diesel engines.

In light of our mounting involvement in the ESG space, I recently caught up with a talented Chief Financial Officer in this space, Chris Bott, CFO of InstaVolt. InstaVolt is backed by an equity investment by private equity (PE) firm, Zouk Capital, and the company is on track to be the largest owner-operator of rapid DC (direct current) charging stations in the UK. In fact, PE firms have turned up the heat on these investments and it's just one example of the top ESG trends that are set to share the future of the investment market.

Read on to learn about his career journey so far, and how his company is providing much needed infrastructure for this movement.

Chris, you’ve worked for some of the largest consumer brands in the world, what attracted you to InstaVolt for your next role? 

I joined InstaVolt because it offered the opportunity to build something new and long-lasting, which is different to the incremental improvements often experienced in large consumer organisations. It’s a high growth market, and the work we are doing now will still be visible in fifteen or twenty years from today, which is a great impact to have in a career. 

The ambition shown by the business is for all to see and we directly compete with big brands like Tesla, BP and Shell – so it doesn’t feel like we’re a small business when we talk about the market. Through our industry awards and customer feedback, I’d say we’re right up there against those giants. We’re proud that, as a local business, with approx. 40 highly engaged and skilled people, we’re punching well above our weight and have ambitions to lead the market.

For a finance team and decision-making processes, it’s about keeping the same principles, but knowing where you are on the spectrum. Focus on controls, efficiency, and believable data."

How have you found the transition into a smaller business and what are the key differences from a finance and decision making process? 

One of my key experiences so far has been the big-business background, but implemented into entrepreneurial cultures. A good portion of my big-business experience has been where the CEO was also the founder, so those businesses retain a high-level of autonomy and are generally building new thinking and processes as they grow. That’s given me exposure to the same challenges small businesses face, but within the big-business standards and practices. Taking a small business to a big business really utilises those previous experiences and I’m lucky enough to have seen both ends of the spectrum.

For a finance team and decision-making processes, it’s about keeping the same principles, but knowing where you are on the spectrum. Focus on controls, efficiency, and believable data. Then use that data to provide reports, forecasts, and insights to your stakeholders on how they score against objectives. Follow that up with ideas and input on how to make the business more competitive. Those principles are applied whatever the business size, but with different weighting in an SME. The smaller business tends to need some ‘TLC’ on processes with scalability firmly in mind. It’s easier to automate or perfect something from the start rather than trying to retrofit something ten years later. 

At InstaVolt, we focus on efficiency and then use that data to show reporting and insights which have never been seen before. In our people, we’re looking for self-starters, who will build something from nothing on a steep curve.

In our people, we’re looking for self-starters, who will build something from nothing on a steep curve".

Who are InstaVolt and what makes them different to competitors in this space?

InstaVolt is the UK’s largest independent rapid charging network. We provide public rapid charging, which means very high-powered chargers that people would use to fill their battery in 30-45mins, rather than 8-10 hours at home. We partner with leading national players, like McDonald’s and Costa Coffee, to add chargers to their car parks. Wherever you would normally stop for half an hour (coffee, food services, gyms etc) or go on a longer journey, we will be there to charge your car conveniently. 

Our difference is our quality, great locations, and our simple pricing. For quality, we are known across EV drivers for our availability and uptime. We invest fully in our equipment and its maintenance, which means everyone expects an InstaVolt charger to be working – there’s been plenty of press about that not being the case across some of our competitors, but that’s not the InstaVolt experience at all. 

Our locations are built on exclusive arrangements with leading brands where you’d like to stop, rather than directing people off-route to inconvenient places.

Finally, our pricing is simple; 40p / kWh. Our competitors confused things with membership fees, discount rates and lots of ‘ifs and buts’. We treat it like a petrol station by advertising a price and letting you pay with either a contactless card or app and not forcing people to sign-up for accounts when they just want to get on the road. The market has followed us with that approach and aligned to our leadership.

How many stations are there in operation and how many do you envisage being in situ by the end next year and beyond?

At the end of October 2021, we had over 635+ chargers operational, across the length and breadth of the UK. Our clear ambition with our partners is to achieve 10,000 chargers over approximately the next ten years. When you consider our exclusive partnerships across many national brands with thousands of locations, I wouldn’t bet against us getting there. We’re proud to play a huge role in supporting the EV transition by giving the public the national network they need.

It is widely publicised that battery length and charging times are key considerations for many – can you shed any light on average range and charge times for the modern electric car? 

Sure. The highest selling EVs over the last six months were the Tesla Model 3, Kia e-Niro and Nissan Leaf. These models average 150-250 miles of range, which is a good 2-3 hours on the motorway without stopping. Our average charge time using an InstaVolt charger is between 30-45 minutes, which means people are back on the road after a break from driving, rather than building charging time into their day. 

I’d like to encourage consumers to measure how far they actually drive in a day and then think about the EV ranges already available. 150 miles per day would be over 50,000 miles per year and I bet that’s more than enough for much of the population. However, when you do that longer journey or stay away from home for a couple of days, InstaVolt will be there for you.

What would you say are going to be the major challenges for InstaVolt over the coming years and how do you plan to overcome them?

Firstly, I think InstaVolt is in a great position due to its reputation, branding and partnerships. For us, the main challenge is to continue our excellent execution and stay at the top of the market. Outside of this, there are two market risks that we need to navigate. The first is a risk that the ability to bring power to all these sites becomes uneconomical. Even though there is consumer demand, a willing location and a great network provider, the sheer cost of upgrading the grid connection at a specific site could stop the project. There are proposals for government support for funding some of these more difficult positions, to ensure access to all households equally, but the structure of this seems to be narrow and focused on motorway service areas rather than sites which would benefit the general driver. 

Secondly, all networks generally require a host or landlord partnership. We have some progressive partners, but there are still large amounts of land ownership which is focused on traditional models. Landowners could see EV charging as a footfall driver to their sites and take a longer-term view. My view is that charging at a public facility will be as commonly demanded by consumers as good wi-fi and owners should be working with networks to get a charging solution in place as quickly as possible.

To overcome both, we need to ensure we sufficiently communicate the emerging consumer trends and charging requirements to central government, local government, and private landowners.

I’d like to thank Chris for taking the time to speak to me. If you’re interested in finding out more about the employers we work with in the ESG space, please reach out to me for a chat, or browse our current ESG space.

22/11/21
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