Greg Jackson warned ministers must move faster to channel British pension money into UK technology firms
The founder of Octopus Energy has urged ministers to move faster to unlock pension fund investment in British technology firms, warning the UK cannot afford to wait years for reforms to take effect.
Greg Jackson, founder and chief executive of the energy giant, said a London stock market listing is no longer the obvious destination for major British technology companies seeking to raise capital.
"It is not obvious at the moment for a very large UK tech company where the best place is to list," Mr Jackson said during a panel discussion on technology sovereignty at The Times CEO Summit.
His comments reflect growing concern among business leaders about the declining attractiveness of UK capital markets and the challenges facing companies looking to secure long-term investment.
Octopus Energy operates Kraken, its utility technology platform valued at £6.4billion, and is Britain's largest supplier of gas and electricity.
Mr Jackson said the company has become heavily reliant on overseas investors, highlighting what he sees as the consequences of domestic pension funds retreating from British assets over many years.
"We have raised $3billion of investment in total, $2.9billion of that maybe came from overseas," he explained.
"Our investors don't have the same sentimental, rational reasons to be attached to the UK, in the way a UK investor might."
Mr Jackson attributed the shift away from British investment to regulatory changes introduced in the early 2000s, which he described as "well-intentioned" but ultimately damaging to domestic capital markets.
He suggested the London Stock Exchange is now experiencing the effects of more than two decades of pension funds reducing their exposure to UK-listed companies.
The Octopus chief acknowledged the Government's support for the Mansion House reforms, which seek to encourage pension schemes to invest more money in British businesses through a combination of regulatory changes and voluntary commitments from fund managers.
However, he warned that the current timetable for implementation was too slow.
"They need to change fast. The reforms to pensions are expected to take place over the next five years — you can't wait five years," Mr Jackson said.
He compared the pace of reform with the speed at which international investors are deploying capital into artificial intelligence infrastructure projects, including data centres.
"We need Government to act with the same urgency that the biggest tech companies are," Mr Jackson said.
"We have to do it not just for British companies and the British economy but for British pensioners and British investors."
Without difficult policy decisions, he warned the UK risked facing rising energy costs and growing pressure on the electricity network, limiting the country's ability to support industries ranging from artificial intelligence to logistics and housing.
"Unless we start making some difficult decisions, we are stuck in a world where we have spiralling energy costs, you can't get a connection [to the grid], and it challenges our ability to do everything from AI right through to running a warehouse and building houses," he said.
James Wise, chair of the Government's sovereign AI fund, appeared alongside Mr Jackson at the summit and said that while elevated energy costs were not preventing artificial intelligence companies from establishing themselves in Britain, businesses were increasingly looking overseas for access to computing chips and power supplies.