Dale Vince of Ecotricity

Dale Vince may be a dreamer, but he has a history of turning his dreams into reality.

The former hippy traveller, who admits he dropped out of society for ten years, dropped back in when he started Ecotricity in 1995 with a single wind turbine that he had used to power his home at the time — an old army truck parked on a hill near Stroud, Gloucestershire.

From these modest beginnings, he has built one of Britain's most successful small electricity companies, taking on industry leaders such as British Gas and EDF to sell renewable energy from Ecotricity's windfarms direct to consumers, and ploughing the profits straight back into new turbines.

Despite the downturn in the economy, the company is going from strength to strength. It now has nearly 40,000 domestic and business customers and is adding about 1,000 every month.

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