As customers of Avro Energy forked out for their gas and electricity direct debits, they had no idea that they were only postponing the death of a badly run business whose collapse would end up costing bill payers £700m.
Despite having no apparent background in the complex energy industry, Avro’s founder, Jake Brown, a former non-league footballer, set up the company with a family loan in 2016. Within a few years of the company’s entry into the market, Avro had amassed half a million customers while enriching Brown and his family along the way.
