Richard Harpin was born in Huddersfield and raised in Northumberland. In 1992, with a ?,000 investment, he founded HomeServe, a home repairs and improvements company that quickly rose to become a FTSE 250 listed business serving millions of customers worldwide. Having acquired Checkatrade in 2017, HomeServe was valued at ?1 billion at the time of its 2023 sale to Brookfield Asset Management, a Canadian investment firm.

Harpin is now the Chairman of HomeServe EMEA, the owner of Business Leader magazine and the Sunday Times business columnist. He devotes half his time to the business and the other half to fostering and supporting entrepreneurship. He lives with his wife, primarily in North Yorkshire, and occasionally in London.