Richard Budge

Richard John Budge (born 1947, Boston, Lincolnshire) is the CEO of [http://www.powerfuel.plc.uk/index.html Powerfuel] .

Early life

He went to Boston Grammar School in Lincolnshire. He entered the mining industry when he joined the company of Retford-based (on "West Carr Road") AF Budge, owned by his brother Tony, which ran opencast mines. It was also involved in civil engineering schemes such as building the new £3.2m A638 Redhouse interchange on the A1(M) north of Doncaster in 1979; junctions 4-6 of the A1(M) in 1973; and junctions 1-3 of the M621 in 1975; the M181 and a section of the M180 near Scunthorpe in 1978. The company also sponsored the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1988. It went into receivership in January 1993, and into liquidation on February 24 1993 with debts of £112m. His brother Tony was [http://www.contractjournal.com/Articles/1996/06/27/23808/trio-banned-after-firms-339112m-collapse.html banned] from all company directorships in 1996 for seven years. He owned racing cars, including a Chevron B19. In one of these, he won the Oulton Park International Gold Cup in 1983.

Career

RJB Mining

When the UK coal industry was privatised in 1994, Budge [http://www.wigantoday.net/56/Budge-is-back-at-the.203417.jp bought] most of the pits for £815m, forming RJB Mining, which he had started in 1992 after buying his brother's opencast business division for £102.5m. This led to Budge being christened "King Coal". When the Labour government came to power, Budge informed the government that ten pits would have to close unless he secured long-term contracts from the electricity generators National Power and Powergen (now called E.ON UK). In 2000, he [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2000/08/13/cnrec13.xml attempted] to sell off its pits to the American Renco Group.

On July 14 2001, he [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2001/03/01/cnrjb01.xml quit] as CEO of RJB Mining. It became known as UK Coal.

Coalpower

He formed the company, Coalpower, in 2001. It bought the [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/741076 Hatfield Colliery] , at Stainforth, in April 2004 from Hatfield Coal Company, helped by £7m of state aid. In late 2003, Coalpower went into administration.

Powerfuel

His company, Powerfuel, is 48% owned by Budge and 52% owned by KRU, Russia's second biggest coal company. In April 2007, he [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/south_yorkshire/6517143.stm re-opened] the pit at Stainforth, at a cost of £100m, [http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/1299/Russians-join-1bn-deal-to.1392191.jp financed] by £50m from VTB Bank. It is part of the Barnsley Seam with around 27m tonnes of coal reserves. A £1.2bn 900MW clean-coal IGCC [http://www.powerfuel.plc.uk/id4.html power station] , known as the Hatfield IGCC Project, is to be built next to the colliery.

Personal life

He is married to Rosalind and lives at [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/711463 Wiseton Hall] at Wiseton in north Nottinghamshire near Gringley-on-the-Hill, close to the A631. He is a [http://www.fuellers.co.uk/html/321.html member] of the Worshipful Company of Fuellers.

He has also invested money in the [http://www.wisetonstables.co.uk/index.html Wiseton Stables] . His brother (born August 9 1939) also had an interest in race horses as well as [http://news.webshots.com/album/240027110QlcDji military equipment] .

ee also

* South Yorkshire Coalfield

External links

* [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/king-coal-makes-a-comeback-459918.html "Independent" article August 2007]
* [http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/1472/A-green-future-for-coal.1907996.jp "Yorkshire Post" December 2006 article]
* [http://www.num.org.uk/?p=news&c=num&id=348 NUM 2006 article]
* [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199495/cmhansrd/1995-05-16/Debate-14.html Discussion in UK Parliament in May 1995 over sale of pits to RJB Mining]
* [http://powerassetmodelling.co.uk/html/hatfield_igcc_.html Hatfield IGCC Project]