Nic Frances

Executive Chairman

Nic Frances, a world leader in social enterprise, is Founder and Executive Chairman of Cool nrg International.

A former stockbroker, Nic left the City at the height of the 1980s boom for Liverpool where he built the Furniture Resource Centre into a leading social enterprise. His work to provide assistance and employment opportunities to vulnerable people was acknowledged when he was awarded the MBE. Nic was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1996. In 1998, he emigrated from the UK to Australia. There, he led the Brotherhood of St Laurence, a leader in the fight against poverty, to 2004. His work earned him an Australian Centenary Medal. In 2004 Nic co-founded Easy Being Green to focus on residential energy efficiency in Australia.

Cool nrg was established by Nic in 2007, to take residential energy efficiency campaigns globally. Since 2007 Cool nrg has delivered over 20 million energy saving light bulbs to households saving over US$823 million in energy costs.  Working with Governments, World Bank, UNFCCC, several global financial institutions and some of Europe’s leading companies, Cool nrg established the world’s first programmatic CDM.  Programmatic CDM is seen as the best opportunity to take UN Carbon Credits to the least developed countries around the world.  Cool nrg is helping companies develop these credits in renewables, commercial and domestic energy efficiency.

Nic is a frequent speaker on prestigious international platforms. He was one of the first 30 Schwab social entrepreneurs. He is currently supporting several new projects in the arts, design and social media. His book, The End Of Charity, is published by Allen & Unwin.

Nic lives in Melbourne, Australia. He has two children, Charlie and Holly.

Matthew Slatter

Director

Matthew Slatter is a member of Cool nrg’s international board and leads the business from his base in London.

His experience in the financial services sector spans 25 years, markets on three continents and a range of specialisms including investment banking, commercial banking, retail banking, life insurance and funds management.

In the five years prior to joining Cool nrg, Matthew was CEO and Managing Director of Australia’s largest entertainment group, Tabcorp Holdings. He was Chief Financial Officer and Director of AXA Pacific Holdings Ltd and Chief Executive of the Bank of Melbourne.

Matthew brings considerable financial and deal-making skills to Cool nrg as well as substantial specialist experience in change management.

He has a B.Comm from Canterbury University, New Zealand, is a graduate of Harvard Business School Management Programme and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Matthew is based in London with his wife Catherine and two of his four children.

Andrew Laing

Executive Director

Andrew Laing began his career in the oil industry.

He spent almost 40 years working for BP, rising to the position of Vice President Finance in Hong Kong where he was responsible for Asia-Pacific finance, including borrowing programmes for major projects in China. He was also responsible for establishing the financial processes for the BP-Mobil joint venture in Europe and for BP’s euro currency implementation.

Andrew brings experience in financial control, major joint venture projects and cultural change.

An Executive Director of Easy Being Green from early 2004 until April 2007, he assisted in the formation of Cool nrg.

Paul Ostling

Deputy Chairman and Non-executive Director

Paul Ostling has been a global leader in professional and business services for three decades.

As Ernst & Young’s Global COO, Paul transformed the organisation’s de-centralised worldwide network into a unified, financially integrated and globally directed organisation with a shared strategy, uniform quality standards and consistent service delivery across 140 countries.

Paul’s role at Cool nrg is to leverage his extensive experience in shifting global regulatory environments to steer the organisation through the murky terrain of global carbon markets, thus adjusting strategic direction in response to changing market dynamics.

Federico Rios

Director of Cool nrg Mexico

Federico is the Cool nrg Mexico Director whose experience in the legal and financial sectors for the last 15 years include working for GE Capital Real Estate as General Counsel for its Mexico and Brazil businesses as well as working for the Chicago based law firm of Mayer, Brown as a foreign associate.

Federico lived in London while studying a Masters degree in International and Business Law and currently resides in Mexico City.

Federico Rios es Director de los negocios de Cool nrg en México. Su experiencia en los sectores financiero y legal en los últimos 15 años incluye el haber fungido como Director Jurídico de GE Capital Real Estate para sus negocios en México y Brasil así como el haber trabajado como asociado en la firma legal de Mayer, Brown basada en Chicago.

Federico residió en Londres mientras estudiaba una Maestría en Derecho Internacional y de Negocios y actualmente vive en México.