Octopus Energy reaches 2m customer milestone

By Adam John

Octopus Energy has awarded a year’s supply of free energy to its 2 millionth customer after achieving the milestone earlier this week.

The large supplier shared a video of the moment its head of digital marketing Max McShane called the customer, a woman called Laura from North Yorkshire, to tell her about the prize.

Watch the video here:

 

After being told the news the customer, who joined the supplier on Monday (22 February), described the gesture as “amazing”.

“I’m having to move so I can afford to live. That’s why I’m downsizing, so that’s just really good”, she said.

Octopus chief executive Greg Jackson told Utility Week he took inspiration for the giveaway from Whizzer and Chips, a comic series he used to read as a child.

“It was quite common in there that someone would go into a shop and be given something for being the 1000th customer. It is something that was in comic books and it just stuck with me. When we hit the milestone we thought it was a nice thing to do,” he said.

The renewable supplier, which is now worth more than £1 billion, entered the market in 2016 and has been a major success story among the disruptor brands.

Its scale means it and fellow challenger Bulb were recently classified by the energy regulator as being in the same category as the former big six.

McShane added: “It made me incredibly happy to share this news with Laura, but knowing that our prize will make a real difference to her and her family really warmed my heart.

“With 2 million households (3.6m accounts), we’ve built a business that’s entered the big six in terms of scale by using technology to drive down costs and improve service. Using our lower cost base to deliver everyday low pricing rather than ‘tease and squeeze’ has really resonated with customers.

“Laura’s reaction is a good reminder of the impact energy bills have in people’s lives, and was a huge emotional lift for our entire team.”