Meet UrbanChain COO and CRO Julian Denée

Julian Denée’s career spans three decades, starting at PWC and with spells at other major global companies including BP, Deloitte, Shell and SEFE Energy. We talk to Julian about his switch to UrbanChain and his role as COO and CRO.

Could you please introduce yourself and share a bit about your background?

Of course, I qualified as a chartered accountant in 1998 but then joined the energy industry, specifically the energy trading and risk management part of the value chain. I initially had a consultancy role, working for some of Europe’s largest energy companies and then I moved in-house. My most recent role was as CEO of SEFE Energy, which is the second largest B2B gas supplier in the UK that also has operations in the Netherlands and France.

So why UrbanChain and why now?

As one counterpart, in a recent business development meeting, said, “UrbanChain’s time has come!” 

The vision of the founders Somayeh Taheri and Mo Hajhashem to create private local markets to enable participants to have a better access to utility products at fairer and more transparent pricing points is incredibly inspiring. 

If you apply this logic to the energy markets, with all their challenges around fuel poverty and price volatility, the potential product offerings become very compelling. So many people say, “Why hasn’t this been done before?”!! So I think the future for the company is very exciting and we are in a situation where the limit to its potential growth is the scale of our own ambitions.

Could you explain your role as CRO and COO?

As Chief Risk Officer, I am responsible for implementing the company’s risk frameworks to ensure we are able to fulfil our growth ambitions in a safe and responsible manner. Specifically, this covers customer on-boarding and credit checking, position reporting and management, risk policies and governance. I am also responsible for the Legal function. 

As Chief Operating Officer, I oversee everything in the post-sales experience, including metering, billing, customer service and debt recovery. I’ve now been in the role for three months and the focus is on standardisation, automation and innovation. The company is growing quickly, and we are balancing the need for structure with the desire to maintain that startup innovative spirit.

How different is life working for a young tech-enabled company on the green energy side?

Refreshing and hectic! The culture at UrbanChain is everything you would want out of a start-up; a can-do attitude and a very positive mindset. Having mainly worked at large energy companies there has been some adjustment for me but it is a real privilege to have this opportunity to contribute at such an early stage of growth.

We're also very fortunate to be able to hire talented and experienced people who are also energised by UrbanChain's mission, ambition and objectives. Many people want to join us on this journey, and when you see that kind of positive response from industry veterans, you know you're onto something.

I’m excited by what’s to come next. We are growing at a fast rate and scalability is key to harnessing that growth.