The co-founder of online banking giant Monzo has quit to farm alpacas in the North East, it has been revealed.
Paul Rippon, who was also deputy chief executive at the business, said it had been a privilege to co-found the bank in 2015 but he was now running a farm in Northumberland with his wife.
In a post published to his LinkedIn page, the executive said: “Why did I leave? Simple, to go and enjoy life.
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“At 48 years young I’ve been working in financial services for 27 years and working away from home for the last eight years.
“Building a fast growing bank takes its toll and even reducing my ‘work hours’ didn’t reduce the cognitive and emotional overhead.”
He explained that wife Debbie has taken the lead in building a family business, Barnacre Alpacas, and he is ready to get more involved.
Mr Rippon added: “With no farming background or experience we now have over 300 alpacas and welcome many visitors to our farm and holiday cottages.
“For the next few weeks and months I’m going to enjoy some time with Debbie at our wonderful farm in Northumberland. You’ll find me doing the feed rounds, hosting alpaca walk ‘n’ talks and driving my tractor (a Massey Ferguson 390T if you like that sort of thing - otherwise it’s big and red!).
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“Sometime after April 2020 I plan to spend a day a week doing non-executive, consulting or coaching; the rest of the time will be reserved for Debbie, our alpaca farm and enjoying life.”
The banking veteran has worked throughout the sector, including Northern Rock, NatWest and Ireland’s AIB. Later, he joined another challenger bank, Starling Bank, before heading off to help found Monzo.
Since launching in 2015, Monzo is now valued at around £2bn and is in the process of raising a further £100m.
Barnacre Alpacas is based at Heddon-on-the-Wall, with Mr Rippon listed as “finance/husbandry assistant” on the farm’s website.
The farm’s online shop advertises a range of knitwear products, as well as alpacca stud services and refurbished farm cottages that are available for rent.