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Retail excellence

Identifying opportunities for efficiency and new ways of working for suppliers

Editor's picks

Former BP trader creates challenger with ‘digital workforce’
Fledgling challenger brand Rebel Energy, due to launch later this year, is creating a “digital workforce” to complement its human customer service team. The company will combine employees with intelligent automation platform Blue Prism Cloud, allowing many customer service issues to be automated. Where the platform cannot resolve issues automatically, the team will be notified.
News
EDF: Industry must ‘redouble efforts’ on complaints
Energy retailers should "redouble their efforts" to ensure they are listening properly to customers' complaints, an EDF Energy director has said. Paul Spence, director of strategy and corporate affairs, made the comments during Utility Week’s latest #AskUsAnything webinar in response to a recent article by Stephen Littlechild.
News
What can utilities learn from the insurance sector about productivity?
Insurance giant RSA knows what it’s like to feel the drag of legacy systems on its cost base and productivity potential. But a new approach to deploying work in its back office and optimising the capabilities of its employees has unlocked breakthroughs in efficiency and effectiveness.
News

Featured

Customer Centric: Zebra Power
In the latest in our Customer Centric interview series Adam John speaks to Mark Royle, co-founder and chief executive of Manchester-based Zebra Power. From ensuring a swift response to enquiries to making every effort to retain its young workforce, Royle tells Utility Week about the secrets to their success.
Interviews
Customer Centric: Igloo Energy
In the second of a series of interviews with utilities firms highly rated for their customer service, Utility Week speaks to Igloo Energy chief executive Matt Clemow. He discusses his belief that a strong foundation of good customer service is fundamental for the transition to net zero carbon. To that end, he explains how technology can play a vital role in the customer journey.
Interviews
Customer Centric: So Energy
In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and increasingly high public expectations, best practice in customer service is more crucial than ever. Utility Week kicks off the first in a series of interviews with suppliers ranked highly in customer service league tables, to share their secrets to success. We begin with So Energy, the supplier founded by two former Macquarie traders, which has ranked in the top five of the Citizens Advice star ratings tables for ten straight quarters.
Interviews

Latest in Retail excellence

No sign switching will return to historic levels any time soon
The number of customers switching electricity supplier has dipped for the first time this year. Following four consecutive months of growth, May saw the first recorded drop in customers switching supplier in 2023. In total, Energy UK figures reveal 150,852 consumers switched to a new supplier in May, down considerably on the 197,620 switches recorded in April.
News
EDF implements AI-powered customer service platform
EDF is the latest retailer to put its trust in artificial intelligence (AI) to boost its customer service offerings. The energy company has announced that it will be implementing the Dynatrace platform to support its customer-facing services, including billing and account queries, meter reading submissions and online customer support engagements.
News
Southern Water social tariff not claimed by most vulnerable
Southern Water’s social tariff is not being claimed by a large number of its most vulnerable customers. Conversely, a large number of people who show “no signs of financial difficulty” are on a social tariff provided by Southern, according to a trial of data-driven solution which aims to identify and predict financial vulnerability at a household level.
News
Satisfaction with utilities slips to 8-year low
Customer satisfaction with the utilities sector has dropped to its lowest level since 2015 after falling 2.8 percentage points in the past year, according to the UK Institute of Customer Service. Against the average declines, UKPN was named one of the nation's top companies across all sectors, scoring highly across five key metrics; and Wessex Water was one of the most improved organisations over the year.
News
Fuel poor are most engaged with energy efficiency
Experts exploring measures to support vulnerable customers through the ongoing energy and cost of living crises discuss the heightened engagement levels among those bearing the brunt of fuel poverty and warn that socially minded – “less techy” – innovation shouldn’t be overlooked in reaching them.
Analysis
How do we ensure consumers are fairly rewarded for providing domestic flexibility?
The energy revolution is underway. Top-down, linear energy systems are becoming relics of a bygone age. In their place, we’re seeing dynamic bi-directional flows of energy, a proliferation of decentralised assets, and the beginnings of a future energy system that – if it is to be clean, reliable and resilient – must put people at its centre.
Comment
What can utilities learn from Dutch retrofit standards?
With calls for energy efficiency reaching fever pitch, Ian Hutchcroft examines why the UK needs to rethink retrofit, what lessons can be taken from Dutch standard and funding approach 'Energiesprong', and how the utilities sector can play a central role in making it work.
Comment
Re-reading smart meter data to find space for low carbon technologies
The utility responsible for delivering electricity to eight million homes and businesses across the Midlands, south west, and south Wales, launched a smart meter data scheme it hopes can facilitate the mass adoption of EV chargers, heat pumps and solar panels by its consumers.
Analysis
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