Stability through choppy waters

As the UK energy market makes it way through uncertain times, Mark Rose is ensuring that Total Gas & Power is staying on course by concentrating on being a trusted, dependable supplier

When the economic outlook is for choppy waters ahead, many organisations take stock of what they are offering their customers and make absolutely sure that they first of all retain the business they do have, and then selectively target the right new business.

Total Gas & Power is no exception. Around 18 months into his role of director of major business, Mark Rose is determined to see Total Gas & Power concentrate on its core business whilst developing a proposition of solutions with a strong pedigree for delivery. “We are ultimately focussing on delivering the best possible customer experience for the supply of gas and power whereas some of our competitors have developed an extremely broad remit to their customers. I want to be 100% sure we deliver what we promise and will develop the proposition on this basis.”

It’s difficult to argue against the strategy as Total’s core business is moving along very nicely. “We were the number 2 supplier of gas by volume, but a recent large contract win should take us back to number 1,” Rose states. “As for power, we have progressed to being number 4 by volume in the I &C market. It has been consistent and steady growth.” Rose believes at that at a time when some suppliers are struggling, those healthy positions in the market will give certainty to both existing and potential customers. “At the moment, across Europe, Total has 1m business-to-business sites and we want to grow this to 2m by 2023. We have some very large customers within our portfolio and will work tirelessly to look after each and every one.”

Transparency is also a part of Total’s commitment to its customers. “This is a key thing for us because we don’t offer traditional residual products as they provide too much ambiguity for the customer,” says Rose. “We want to share how calculations are made to enable customers to understand how the costs are arrived at. It’s important as a lot of customers have been with us for a long time.” Total prides itself on its retention rate, which is well over 90 per cent.

Another key part of customer retention has been Total’s introduction of its own code of conduct to make up for the lack of any standard in the TPI community. “We are passionate that the customer gets a good service either from us or the TPIs”, Rose adds.

It’s also Rose’s plan to offer customers regular updates on the market. “The thing we are looking to do is to provide better forecasts, better market understanding and better education so they don’t get too many surprises. For example, we can’t change that new nuclear generation capacity in the UK will have an impact on the Contracts for Difference charge to our customers, but we can help them see it coming.”

As the Total proposition develops, solar is very much back on the radar offering a proposition installing SunPower’s panels for customers through partners. Total acquired a 60 per cent stake in SunPower in 2011.

Total has also recently partnered with ChargePoint, a world-leading supplier of networked electric vehicle charging technology to take advantage of the almost-certain boom in electric vehicle use in the coming years. However, Rose admits that the market has been slow to take off. “It’s not just a question of sticking a couple of posts in a car park, there are a lot of considerations. There is certainly limited knowledge out there when it comes to the infrastructure. The cost of the posts themselves is one thing but digging up your car park and laying cables is something you only want to do once and needs to be carefully planned. One of the unique things about our proposition is how we can help customers find the funding which could be ultimately paid for via the electricity or gas invoice.” However, there are signs that the market will now accelerate. “There are some significant drivers, such as changes to benefit in kind on EVs that lead us to believe there will be significant growth in 2020.”

In addition, Rose reveals that the company is also considering options in flexibility. “You want to have it in your proposition, but our customers aren’t going to use it if they don’t get a return from it.”

Rose believes that energy efficiency is very difficult to do well as a supplier. “You can invest a lot of money on a big acquisition but there is no guarantee that it is going to be a success. And there is the age-old argument that you’re selling a service to a customer to make them use less of what is your core business.”

Rose’s philosophy stems from establishing a strong core product base that customers will need irrespective of price changes and possible political upheaval in the coming months. “The UK energy markets are always sensitive to the economic environment, not just domestically but also internationally. With so many unknowns on the horizon for customers, it is vital that they can rely on their supplier.”