Jordan Brompton: The gritty, green Grimbarian

Kamogelo Motse finds out from myenergi co-founder Jordan Brompton what it takes to build a clean energy company while staying true to your roots.

Know what a Grimbarian is? Jordan Brompton does. Because she is one… and she’s very proud of it. When I ask her what it means to be a Grimbarian she chuckles in surprise: “I can’t believe you even know what a Grimbarian is.” So what is it?

A Grimbarian is somebody who is born and raised in Grimsby, a port town in the northeast of England. “What makes you a true Grimbarian is having to speak a lot louder and shout a lot louder than the rest of the country to be heard,” says Brompton, who describes Grimbarians as being “gritty”.

I first heard of Brompton when I heard her interview on a podcast by entrepreneur Grace Beverley. Brompton is cofounder of energy technology firm myenergi, and she spoke of her career and work with colour and enthusiasm, being unapologetically herself. I decided that I wanted to learn more about her – and when I saw a photo of her driving a pink car, my interest was further piqued. Myenergi manufactures eco-smart home management technologies. Its goal is to increase its customers’ energy independence and build a greener future.

The company is well-known for its eco-smart ‘zappi’ EV charger and has created newer products such as the ‘eddi’, a device that diverts surplus renewable energy to domestic heating systems. The company is headquartered in Grimsby, the hometown of Brompton and her business partner Lee Sutton. Why Grimsby? Because Brompton and Sutton want to stay true to their roots. “Why not give something back to the community in terms of jobs, skills and something to be positive about,” says Brompton.

She says it also made financial sense to build a business in a town, rather than in a big city like London. “If you just want to look at it purely on a business point of view, it’s expensive to set up in London.” (The company has subsequently opened an EU headquarters in Maastricht in the Netherlands.)

She also talks about the green evolution that is sweeping Grimsby, with large wind turbine manufacturers setting up shop in the town. “We’ve got Ørsted on our shores now, which is the largest wind turbine manufacturer… and you’ve got myenergi. “We’re becoming a bit of a hub for green energy, which has given the town a little boost.”

Brompton speaks with passion about how Grimsby has changed over the years. The town experienced tough times during the recession and the fishing industry on which it once relied has been “pretty much decimated”.

However, she says the town is now coming out of that dip. Brompton was a dancer, DJ, radio presenter and sold bike parts before coming up with the idea of starting myenergi. “I didn’t have any career opportunities coming out of school: nothing was presented to me as options.

I had to try a lot of things to know what I really liked and to find my purpose and passion in life.” When she first met her business partner Sutton, he owned a business that manufactured small devices that electricians were installing with solar panels. “When I saw this tiny device that Lee had thought of for heating your hot water from your solar, something clicked in my brain and this whole world of self-consumption and being off-grid hit me like a tonne of bricks.”

However, Sutton’s business went into voluntary insolvency in 2012 when the first solar subsidies were pulled by the government. He went to see Brompton because he remembered how passionate she was about the industry, and asked her: “Do you want to join forces?”

At the time Brompton was selling the aforementioned bike parts for a cycling distribution business, but “was not passionate about it, not loving it – trying to, but not. And I just said ‘yes’, and we ploughed all our own money into it.” And that is how myenergi started. The sector has inevitably changed since 2016. Brompton says the biggest change has been seen in the consumer: “The everyday consciousness of people has shifted.”

She remembers that, when she started out, she would have to explain what a home energy management system and an eco-smart home were. Now that has changed. “It’s become mainstream very quickly. The market has become commoditised a lot quicker than I thought it would, and I think COVID-19 catapulted that.”

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With the sector becoming mainstream more quickly comes an increasing number of competitors, and Brompton says myenergi’s biggest challenge is staying at the top. “We became market leaders over the past few years, and I think staying that way is really difficult in a very crowded, competitive market – there are a lot of people throwing a lot of money at this space.”

To combat this challenge, Brompton believes that differentiation and building a strong brand will be what sets her company apart. “Brand and customer service are going to be key, as well as understanding and listening to the customer.”

When it comes to succeeding as an entrepreneur, Brompton believes that you need the same skills in the renewable energy business as in any other. “You just need to have pure grit and determination – which helps because, as I said, that’s what Grimsby people have. “You need to get used to feeling uncomfortable because there’s always going to be a problem, there’s always going to be a challenge, and you need to keep that fighting mentality to keep working your way through each challenge.”

Brompton believes that, as an entrepreneur, you need a lot of self-awareness. She advises playing to your strengths and knowing your weaknesses: “Pass off your weaknesses as fast as possible to somebody that’s better than you.”

As I mentioned earlier, Brompton is always unapologetically herself. How does she pull this off in a male-dominated industry? “To be honest, it’s something that just comes naturally. I’d struggle to pretend to be anybody else. I won’t be boxed in or put in a corner or told to ‘shut up’, or told that I don’t know what I’m talking about.”

This is important to her because she wants to send the right message to her daughter, Bonnie, who was born in 2019. “She’s just so confident and full of character,” says Brompton – and she wants her to stay that way.

Brompton has also written a children’s book, Sparki and the journey to Earth, which follows the adventures of Sparki, a friendly green alien.

The book aims to educate children about renewable energy and sustainability. So as an author, businesswoman and green queen of the UK energy sector, what advice would she give to other would-be women entrepreneurs?

“Just get started. And don’t be afraid to fail. If you want to do something but you’re scared of what other people are going to think and say about you… that’s not a reason not to do it. Just get started.”