VINCENT DE RIVAZ, a Frenchman so French that his mobile face is forever squeezing into new squishes of exasperation, has a few tips about settling in Britain.

“Numburr one ees a love of gardening,” he says, in his heavily accented English. “My wife ’as a passion for it, so that has helped me a lot.”

He smiles seductively. Number two, which he never gets to, is possibly “sponsor the London Olympic bid”. That’s what de Rivaz did last year — causing some surprise because, as boss of EDF Energy, the British utility that encompasses London Electricity, Seeboard and SWEB, he is very much part of a French global group, Electricité De France. Shouldn’t he have been backing Paris?

He puffs his cheeks. “No, I’m a Londoner,” he says with a distinct twinkle in his grey-blue eyes. His parent company, of course, sponsored the Paris bid and the Rio bid, so you could say EDF had its options covered.

But it proved a PR masterstroke, and EDF Energy, whose banners you can see across London lampposts in a new branding splurge, has settled into Britain rather well. The company now runs three big power stations, three regional retail brands and three distribution network operators, with 11,300 employees. It has a turnover of £4 billion, 5m customers, and distributes electricity to 7.8m British homes and businesses.

All of that is but a lemon pip in comparison to the big fruit: EDF’s global group. The French state-owned giant — protected from competition, much to the annoyance of EDF’s rivals here — is one of the biggest energy firms in the world, with interests across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. And some time soon (the date has yet to be announced), it will be partly privatised, allowing the likes of you and me to buy into French technological might.

So a chat with the head of its British arm — the most efficient part of EDF, by many analysts’ reckoning — is timely, not least because the privatisation back home, along with other workplace changes, is ruffling French feathers.

When de Rivaz and I met last Tuesday, much of France was on strike in protest about new employment laws being prepared. Plus ça change.

“But you cannot expect me to comment on that,” ripostes de Rivaz, looking alarmed when I bring it up. “I am just talking about my business.”

Fair enough. Let’s start easy — why did he really sponsor the London Olympic bid? He is not a Londoner; he is a Savoyard from the French Alps.

“Because we are proud to be the energy company of the capital city of Britain,” he says, gesturing with his hands. “The reality of this business is not a matter of being French or German. It is a local business and the networks are in people’s homes.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Anyway, if I had not been doing it and one of my competitors had, my boss in Paris would have asked, ‘Why not you?’” He cocks his head and places his hands flat on the table, giving them a moment’s rest from their perpetual puppetry.

De Rivaz, 52, whose long, lean body bears testament to his passion for cycling, is the most mobile chatterer you could meet; hands, face, eyebrows, elbows — everything bobs and gestures in emphasis of each argument. He is also utterly charming, happy to poke fun at himself, and adept at sidestepping questions he doesn’t want to answer.

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