THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - SEPTEMBER 2017
those with multiple sites in different
locations have more complex energy
requirements. Our flexible purchasing
contracts for gas and electricity allow
customers to trade according to market
conditions that best suit them.
And with the introduction of InSight,
customers can now do that using a
live feed of energy prices plus five
years’ worth of historic data that they
can base buying decisions on.
Energy is undoubtedly a universal
requirement for businesses and
homes. But that doesn’t mean that
energy needs are universal too. It’s
this ethos that we base our customer
service on, to ensure that we can meet
individual demands of businesses big
or small.
Offering various tools and services,
such as daily market updates, monthly
calls, and regular visits, we continually
look at tailoring our customer
service. But whether a business is a
large corporate with a whole department
dedicated to energy, or a small
enterprise with little time to invest in
it, executives share the desire to keep
it simple. We aim to keep sight of this
when looking at how we can maintain
a customer-centric approach.
From its headquarters to the website,
all aspects of a business can have a
knock-on effect on customer service.
That’s why we’re sure to invest even
in the foundations of our organisation,
such as our office environment, to
give employees the resources to put
customers first.
Now that we have a more mature
business in the UK our focus is to
drive higher efficiency and replicate
the success we’ve had in the UK on
the continent. The aim is to increase
our market share to 10 per cent in
other territories, namely France and
the Netherlands.
But we can’t support international
expansion without investing in our
Manchester headquarters. Nothing
shows our plans for growth more evidently
than our new office, currently
under construction in Manchester.
Skills is a key focus for our UK investment,
as we carry out projects
such as leadership training to help
employees unlock their potential in
business. With two universities and
several further education colleges,
Manchester continually produces
graduates who see the appeal of staying
in the city. With ongoing training,
we nurture these recruits into assets
for the business. This is the model that
we aim on emulating in other countries;
essentially making the most of
the talent on offer and furthering their
skills to support current and future
continental business.
The UK’s energy market has long
been dominated by a few select
players, coined as the ‘Big Six’.
But in recent years, we’ve seen an
increasing number of customers turn
their focus towards others in the market.
Between 2009 and 2014 the Big
Six’s collective market share went
down by 7.4 per cent, with many businesses
viewing smaller suppliers’ offerings
as more attractive, including
cheaper bills.
In fact, the latest Cornwall Insight
report shows that the business gas
market specifically is seeing some
changing dynamics. Gazprom Energy
took the market share leadership
position at 20.5 per cent up from
18.3 per cent; this was the highest
share for any provider since 2005.
However, this doesn’t mean we’re
looking to be one of the big six or
dominating the entire UK energy
industry. Instead, we want to be the
leading provider of business energy
specifically, and we aim to do this by
building on our existing customer
service provision.
As a supplier of gas and electricity
specifically to businesses, we understand
that they want a service tailored
specifically to their needs and this is
something which differs from the
smallest to the largest of business
customers. For example, the needs
of a small business are generally
focused around price security and
the ease of setting up an energy
contract, whereas a large, energyintensive
business or one with a
chain of premises has much more
strategic and complex needs. A specialist
energy provider can work with
the business to develop a bespoke
service based on their requirements.
We want to grow our position as a
leader within the business gas and
electricity market by ‘thinking like
the customer’, or what we call ‘TLC’.
This has long been our ethos, meaning
that we don’t make any business
decisions without applying the
thought – what would the customer
want from a gas or electricity supply?
What are their challenges? How can
we help overcome them? Using a
number of strategies, we aim to underpin
our intended growth and increasingly
put customers at the centre
of everything we do.
More effective energy buying will
be part of the strategy. The energy
market is volatile, and this year alone
has seen events that have had a dramatic
impact on market prices. Take
for example Opec’s recent plans to
gradually reduce oil production by
1.3 million barrels per day to raise its
price. Experts cite a strong correlation
between the cost of oil and natural
gas, suggesting that gas bills
could go up. The planned closure of
Rough, the UK’s largest natural gas
storage site, is another event that has
made many fear a rise in energy
costs. The closure means that the UK
may need to import 1.75 billion cubic
metres (bcm) of additional gas this
winter, sourced mostly from mainland
Europe and Qatar. This could
lead to a price premium.
It’s only by establishing how these
events may impact price, and using
this to inform purchasing that an energy
manager can make energy buying
as efficient as possible. But this
doesn’t come without a heavy admin
burden. For a long time energy managers
have had to manually handle
energy price data in complex spreadsheets,
which require regular updates
to stay current.
But we know that given technological
advancements, it doesn’t have to
be this way. Our recently launched
InSight tool allows professionals to
view live energy prices, track trends,
model future scenarios and produce
bespoke reports.
From working closely with customers,
we see how little time energy
managers have to carry out strategic
activity due to reporting requirements.
We wanted to change this, not only to
free up their time, but to also support
their strategic energy decisions by
giving them access to all of the key
information.
It is also important to provide the
right support for all businesses. An
energy supplier might make it easy
for customers to buy from them, but
the service is below par if it can’t meet
the individual needs of the business,
with regards to factors such as pricing
terms and buying support. At Gazprom
Energy we don’t have one single
go-to-market strategy, instead we’ve
clearly segmented the needs of our
specific customer types. A small business
for example may not be able to
invest hours of time every week into
managing energy, nor can it cope with
energy prices getting any higher.
Our fixed rate energy contracts are
designed with that in mind. Our aim
is to make energy management quick,
easy and predictable, giving SME
owners more time to focus on other
important tasks. However, they’re
still after a great deal. We’ve found
that small businesses are increasingly
looking to monitor their energy usage
too, but can often struggle due to not
having the resources to do so. Automated
meter reading (AMR) solutions
for gas and electricity can help business
owners get an accurate view of
their energy usage and look at ways to
become more efficient.
Larger businesses are of course
more likely to have a function dedicated
to energy management, and
14 Industry Perspective
Kurt Bligaard
Pedersen, CEO at
Gazprom Energy,
discusses how the
business energy
supplier aims to
further its customercentric
approach, and
boost its presence in
other territories.
Staying on top of the
business energy market
Pedersen: more effective energy buying will be part of the strategy