Energy tycoon whose firm said customers should hug a pet to stay warm is building a spa at his £3.5m home
A FATCAT energy boss whose firm said customers should hug a pet to stay warm is building a spa at his £3.5million home.
Ovo Energy founder Stephen Fitzpatrick, 46, already has a pool-house and a tennis court.
He said in planning documents that his new 1,302 sq ft gym and spa would “complement the existing leisure facilities”.
As part of the same application, Mr Fitzpatrick was allowed to build a greenhouse and walled garden at his sprawling Gloucestershire estate.
Cotswold District Council also granted retrospective permission for a 276 sq ft estate manager’s office, six visitors’ parking spaces and storage containers — after they had already been built.
But despite Mr Fitzpatrick’s extravagance, Ovo’s sister company SSE Energy advised struggling customers to cuddle pets and eat porridge to stay warm without turning the heating up.
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Belfast-born Mr Fitzpatrick, worth an estimated £2.1billion, later apologised for the 2022 gaffe, saying: “It was a bad day.
"We made a mistake.”
Simon Francis, of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “While customers suffer in cold, damp homes, energy bosses like this are living the high life.
“Families are cutting back on showers to save money.
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"Meanwhile, he is wanting to build a new spa complex.
"It’s obscene.”
