Helping our customers

Around 6.6 million residential and business accounts rely on us every day for their energy. Our success depends on our ability to anticipate and respond to those customers’ changing needs and deliver the highest quality service. That includes selling our products responsibly, protecting the most vulnerable members of society and helping our customers to reduce their carbon footprint.

In 2008 we reorganised our retail business to reflect the ever-changing energy market by creating a dedicated Energy Services division. This will enable us to focus on more forward-looking opportunities like smart metering and helping our business customers become more energy efficient. Changing our internal structure this way also makes us more efficient, leaving us better placed to serve our customers’ needs.

2008 was a challenging year for our retail business and we are committed to improvement. We’re all too aware of the impact changing energy prices have on our customers’ daily lives. So we’ve continued to develop products and services designed to help them use less and budget more.

Last year, on average, we started more than 100 insulation projects every hour, every day – from simple loft insulations to sophisticated ground source heat pumps, to help our customers cut their bills and CO₂ emissions.

In 2008 we announced we would spend approximately £50 million over the next three years to help our most vulnerable customers. Targeting our efforts towards low-income households means we can make sure that genuine help gets to those who need it most.

We’ve also invested in new people, systems and procedures to improve the quality of our customer service and direct selling.