Monzo bank co-founder ditches his £2billion company to look after nearly 300 Alpacas on his wife’s farm as he leaves the financial industry after 27 years to ‘enjoy life’
- Paul Rippon, 48, stepped down from his day job to look after alpacas on a farm
- Mr Rippon says that he finds the farm in Northumberland ‘a good way to unwind’
- Mrs Rippon started Barnacre Alpacas in 2006 after watching travel programme
Once he was overseeing loans, mortgages and overdrafts as head of a £2billion banking operation.
Now you’re more likely to find Paul Rippon dealing with softer assets in a different field.
The 48-year-old, who co-founded Monzo bank in 2015, stepped down from his hectic London day job to help on his wife’s alpaca farm full-time.
He and spouse Debbie look after a herd that includes nearly 300 of the Andean animals, along with 30 goats, ten sheep, 14 chickens and two donkeys.
After ‘working morning, noon and night’ in banking, Mr Rippon said he had found the farm in Northumberland ‘a good way to unwind’ – and has now revealed how he decided to leave the industry after 27 years to ‘enjoy life’.
Paul Rippon, 48, who co-founded Monzo bank in 2015, stepped down from his hectic London day job to help on his wife’s alpaca farm full-time
Mrs Rippon, 46, started Barnacre Alpacas in 2006 after she was inspired by a Michael Palin travel programme.
The couple moved to Heddon-on-the-Wall three years ago and have since grown the farm into a business offering alpaca walking tours, knitwear and livery.
Mr Rippon, who announced he was leaving Monzo in January, said: ‘Deb was building the farm and I was trying to grow the bank. For five years I was working morning, noon and night trying to get the bank up and running.
‘It was draining in London during the week, then at the weekend helping at the farm was a good way to unwind. By the time we had four million customers it got to the point that I couldn’t do both the farm and the bank, so I had to choose one.’
He and spouse Debbie (pictured together) look after a herd that includes nearly 300 of the Andean animals, along with 30 goats, ten sheep, 14 chickens and two donkeys
The pair, who both grew up on council estates in Nottingham and had no prior farming experience, admitted friends thought they were mad when they first decided to run a farm.
‘The biggest animal we had previously was a rescue cat from the RSPCA,’ Mr Rippon said.
His wife, who used to work in insurance, added: ‘We started with about two acres and three alpacas, before we rented another 15 acres off neighbours. The farm we are on now is 110 acres.
‘Some of the other farmers think we are nuts as all the alpacas have names and are expensive to keep. We’re townies with spreadsheets and they tell us it doesn’t work like that. But I think what draws people to them is they are very cute – and their eyes are amazing.’
Mrs Rippon has given her alpacas names like Nefertiti, Chiquita and Cha Cha – and knows all of her livestock on sight. She said: ‘I like their names to mean something. Occasionally I will let Paul name one.’
Mr Rippon is now more likely to be found taking guests on alpaca ‘walk and talks’. And thanks to social media they have an international audience. ‘Fans from Saudi Arabia once turned up at the farm after they rented a fleet of Mercedes to drive down and say hello,’ he said.