The Chairman of GB Energy has spent more days working from home this year than any of the numerous offices secured for the organisation around the UK. Lead by example…
Juergen Maier is contracted to work for only 104 days over a year. Guido’s FoI unit asked where he has been working so far this year. DESNZ said “like with any company – publicly or privately owned, the Chair is not required to work in any one location,” insisted board meetings are held at the GB Energy HQ in Aberdeen (which is just desks in the department’s existing office building there), and said that “a significant portion of Juergen’s time is dedicated to high-value external engagement rather than working from a specific office.” You can see where this is going…
This year so far Maier has worked for 32 days from home, 30 from London, six from the ‘HQ’ in Aberdeen, and – ridiculously – only two from his dedicated personal office in Salford. A few more offices around the country should do the trick…
At 78 days of work and 52 “contracted days on formal GBE engagements” DESNZ said “Maier has also spent more days on GBE business than his contract stipulates.” Wow…
Senior staff working on the setup of Great British Energy – which got royal assent in May – are Maier as start-up chairman, Dan McGrail as interim CEO, five start-up non-executive directors and some other senior executive positions. DESNZ staff are currently “expected to spend 40-60% of their working hours in the office as the norm (with a minimum of 40%).” Senior civil servants are increasingly expected across Whitehall to be in the office 60% or more of the time. It ain’t easy…
Labour’s GB Energy has launched its official website and social media and funnily enough ditched its much-ridiculed stock image logo. After struggling to hire foundational staff maybe that will help…
GB Energy is having its first meeting this afternoon. Guido had a look at chairman Juergen Maier’s introductory video. After explaining what the “national energy champion” is without really making clear that it won’t produce energy, Maier says: “We are proudly based in Aberdeen, a world class centre of energy expertise.” Have you got that warm, fuzzy, levelling up feeling yet?
Funnily enough if you know your way around Whitehall – which Guido regretfully admits he does – you would recognise the view through the window behind Maier. He’s in 55 Whitehall, the London HQ of DESNZ. At the centre of the blob. No cash for an actual headquarters yet or is Maier just not keen on spending time up in the Granite City?
Guido has previously noted how little interest there is in working for Labour’s state-owned energy investment company GB Energy. The situation is not getting any better…
GB Energy boss Juergen Maier said in his first broadcast interview today that the company won’t even hire the promised 1,000 staff in Aberdeen for 20 years. Nor could he spell out how or when GB Energy would take £300 off British energy bills. It may have a large HR team soon though…
Guido spotted that two days ago the company posted a job ad for an HR Director. The director will provide “authentic, inclusive, inspiring, and visible leadership” while developing “a diverse multi–disciplinary staff… whilst promoting inclusivity.” That’s all for a sweet £117,800 base salary – 356% the median UK wage…
GB Energy already tried to hire an HR Director back in October for between £76,000 and £90,000. Presumably with no interest they’ve had to sweeten the salary by about 40%. Low energy…
Starmer and Miliband today confirmed that former Siemens UK chief Juergen Maier will be chairman of GB Energy. He describes himself as an “industrialist” who is “a passionate advocate for a new economic approach, which should provide stronger leadership for innovation and technology led ‘green frontier sectors’ and industrial tech start-ups… these should gain significantly more support as part of the UK’s Industrial Strategy“. The perfect mix of vacuous and statist…
Maybe Maier’s numerous Question Time appearances caught Labour’s eye, in which he called for a weak Brexit or trashed Tory policies over the years. Or maybe it was that Maier has been full of praise for the Starmer project over the years, especially hailing the glorious leader’s commitment to massive state spending on green subsidies. Typical fare from a corporate tipped for a cushy government job…
Maier has for over two years been pushing hard for the UK to rejoin the single market and reinstitute freedom of movement. More recently he’s been focussed on attacking anything Tory and offering barely-veiled support for every step taken by Starmer. No merit hires here…
Sarah Pochin at Reform Scotland’s manifesto launch event: “I really wanted to come on in a Reform tartan burka, but apparently I wasn’t allowed… One day let’s do one of these events not live-streamed. We’ll do all the naughty stuff…”
