Richard Harpin’s Homeserve, the Walsall-based home maintenance and insurance firm, is still rebuilding after more than £450 million was wiped off its share value in November 2011 when it suspended its telesales activities following an independent inquiry into its selling practices.

Homeserve reacted quickly, suspending marketing calls, changing its marketing processes and launching into a retraining process for almost 500 call centre staff. Sales scripts were rewritten. Business-generated calls were suspended. A further £19 million has been set aside to reimburse customers.

Pre-tax profits for the year to March 2013 fell by more than £70 million to £67 million. But there are some bright spots in the figures and Richard Harpin believes things are back on track and the company can return to modest growth in 2014/15. Figures for the first six months of the current year show a five per cent increase in revenue, with operating profits slightly down.

Revenue for the year increased from £534.7 million to £546.5 million, and the group has seen a big increase in overseas customers, up by 19 per cent to 2.6 million, with big increases in the US and Spain.

Twelve new agreements were signed with overseas affinity partners, covering more than five million households. Net debt, at £47 million as of August 2013, continues to reduce.

The group was hit with a £6 million bill relating to the Financial Conduct Authority’s investigation into the mis-selling issues – which is ongoing – and a further £4 million bill was incurred through re-organisation costs, which saw 300 job cuts.

Despite selling five per cent of his stake in the company in 2010, reaping a reported £66 million, Richard Harpin is still a significant shareholder with a stake worth around £85 million. He remains chief executive at Homeserve and still commutes from his home in North Yorkshire, getting up at 5am to make sure he gets a swimming session in before starting work before 9am.

With Homeserve, Richard Harpin has turned an emergency plumbing business backed by South Staffordshire Water into a multinational company.

Aged 49, he graduated from the University of York and joined Procter & Gamble’s marketing department. He became a brand manager but left after three and a half years to become a management consultant with Deloitte. He stayed there a year before setting up his own management consultancy.

It was when he saw how difficult it was to get a reliable plumber in an emergency that he formulated his business model; an insurance product which would ensure a fast and efficient plumbing emergency service.

After several let-downs, he managed to sell the idea to South Staffordshire Water who gave him £100,000 for 52 per cent of the company. In 1993 HomeServe was born, offering plumbing and drains insurance to water company customers.

Within two years Homeserve was turning in profits, and Richard Harpin successfully marketed the idea to other water companies, giving him total UK coverage.

Having access to a large customer base through the water companies, he was able to offer other services. Homeserve now covers electrical wiring, pest control, home decorating, central heating boilers, and glazing.