Ken Hodcroft

Ken Hodcroft is the managing director of Increased Oil Recovery and is the former chairman of Hartlepool United F.C. (HUFC).

Ken Hodcroft was born in Newcastle but moved to Leeds when he was five with his family. There he was educated at Leeds Grammar School and took his A-Levels. It was at Leeds Grammar that his passion for both football and rugby grew. During his time there, he also gained an O level maths a year early, did additional maths (Oxbridge), and the following year acquired chemistry, physics and biology A-Levels. Hodcroft considered becoming a doctor but was put off by the 5-year course. Thus, he returned to Newcastle to study and gain a 2.1 Honours degree in chemical engineering at the University of Newcastle instead. He then went to Imperial college, London, to study for an Msc in Petroleum Engineering. He had been influenced to study Petroleum Engineering and to work in the oil business after watching The Troubleshooters, a 1970s television programme about the oil industry.

After university, Hodcroft moved to the US for two years and worked for the oil company Phillips Petroleum in Louisiana, Texas, and Bartlesville, Oklahoma. While at Bartlesville he played football for Tulsa Roughnecks and was offered a contract there. However, he rejected it in favour of a career in the oil business.

Shortly afterwards, Hodcroft moved to Norway to continue working for Phillips Petroleum. After 7 years he moved to Aberdeen, Scotland. It was there where he decided to form the oil company IOR after seeing a gap in the market. IOR was based in Aberdeen and is still successfully running today.

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