Nationality English Name Andrew Pilley | Role Businessman Spouse Gemma Caton (m. 2011) | |
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Full Name Andrew James Pilley Born 26 May 1970 (age 53) ( 1970-05-26 ) Blackpool, United Kingdom Occupation Chairman, businessman, entrepreneur, director | ||
Andrew James "Andy" Pilley (born 26 May 1970 in Blackpool, United Kingdom) is an English businessman. He is the current chairman and owner of Sky Bet League 1 football club Fleetwood Town Football Club, the chairman of independent commercial utility group, BES Utilities and the managing director of independent utility sales agency network Commercial Power.
Contents
- Background
- Fleetwood Town Football Club
- Business Energy Solutions BES Utilities
- Community Trust
- Trinity Hospice
- References
Background
Pilley was born on the Fylde Coast and was brought up in the Borough of Wyre (which includes the towns of Fleetwood, Thornton-Cleveleys and Poulton-le-Fylde). He has lived almost all his life in this corner of North West England.
He became self-employed in 2001 due to the demise of large energy company, Enron, which left him unemployed. As a result of this, he started his own utilities brokerage business from his spare bedroom.
Fleetwood Town Football Club
In 2004 he was offered the chance to become involved in Fleetwood Town Football Club. What he found upon his arrival at Fleetwood Town was a club with a dilapidated stadium, very limited revenue streams and in desperate need of investment and a complete new direction.
Since becoming owner, Pilley has invested in excess of ten million pounds into the club. His financial support has seen the complete renovation of Highbury Stadium, including the construction of its centre piece, the Parkside Stand, which first opened to spectators in March 2011. This 2,000 capacity seated stand offers executive boxes and a large hospitality area which plays an important role in providing income streams for the club both on matchdays and non-match days. Both the Parkside and Memorial Stands are also home to the BES group of companies, with office spaces built into the stands.
Business Energy Solutions (BES Utilities)
Following the deregulation of the UK energy market, Pilley launched BES Commercial Gas (now part of the BES Utilities group) in 2005, with his sister Michelle, as a new entrant into the UK gas supplier market. In 2009, sister company BES Commercial Electricity was established which successfully acquired an electricity supply licence and live electricity supply to its first customers commenced in early 2010. Since then, both BES Commercial Gas and BES Commercial Electricity have had a combined turnover of circa. £70 million in 2014–2015, a customer base of over 35,000 businesses and a current workforce of around 350 employees.
In November 2015, BES Utilities was penalised with a £980,000 fine by Ofgem over licence breaches. In addition to this, in July 2016, with the aid of local police, Trading Standards performed raids on BES Utilities' head office in relation to allegations of mis-sold energy contracts.
Community Trust
In 2012, Pilley and fellow directors founded the Fleetwood Town Community Trust, an independent, registered charity working in partnership with Fleetwood Town Football Club.
Trinity Hospice
Pilley is a supporter of Trinity Hospice. In Summer 2013, BES Utilities supported the Trinity Hospice Corporate Challenge.