Karen Darby - The Simply Switch founder who sold for £22m to Daily Mail

Name: Karen Darby Nationality: British Companies run: Decisions Group, Karen Darby Direct, Simply Switch Karen Darby really is a shining example of someone who has worked her way up to success. She worked four different jobs while at school before leaving with just one O-level – quite a world apart from what she has achieved now. Back in 1983, at the age of 22, Darby set up a telemarketing firm called the Decisions Group, one of the first of its kind in the UK. She ran this for seven years, employed 200 at its peak, but then she began to find it tiresome - so decided to sell. She got £500,000 for it with a promise of another £1.1m once profits reached a certain level. Unfortunately the company that acquired her acquirer went bust soon after its sale, so this was never honoured. Decisions Group now trades as part of Sitel. She then worked as an independent consultant for a while, under the name Karen Darby Direct, working with big names such as Direct Line and BSkyB. But her life as a 'Mumpreneur' came an end when she spotted an opportunity while with a client and decided to set up energy price comparison service SimplySwitch in 2002 (originally known as Simply Energy Ltd). The idea came following controversy in the media surrounding accusations of misselling in the deregulated gas and electricity markets. Essentially the company provided a free service to users but gets a fee from the gas/electricity companies if a consumer switches to them after going through its website or call centre. By basing the business in Croydon she was able to secure funding from Bridges Community Ventures, the venture capital firm backed by Sir Ronald Cohen that invests in companies creating employment in deprived areas. She built it into a highly successful operation with more than 100 employees and claims to have saved users a combined £20m on their household bills. Darby decided to sell SimplySwitch in 2006 for a mouthwatering £22m to the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT), the same year she won the 'CBI's First Woman of Finance' Award and made it as a finalist in the Credit Suisse Entrepreneur of the Year category at the Orange National Business Awards. She even ended up ditching a further £5m in earn-out payments, which she would have received if she had stayed working with the company for another three years. She was invited to audition to be a Dragon on Dragons’ Den, but disappointingly for her, lost out to Deborah Meaden. However, in hindsight, she feels that this was probably a good thing because she believes that the programme is getting progressively cattier, which is not really her business style. She has, however, raised her profile as a public speaker and mentor and channels interest in her activities through her personal website http://www.karendarbydirect.com/. She has also started up Call Britannia, another telemarketing business and social enterprise with plans of creating 10,000 jobs for the unemployed in some of the UK's most deprived areas over the next five to seven years. Call Britannia (http://www.callbritannia.com/) will work with both public and private companies and handle both in and outbound calls. Darby talks to Entrepreneur TV about her early days in telesales, how to handle discrimination and tells us more about the creation of SimplySwitch. Profile by Jessica Pauley

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