Utility Warehouse

Utility Warehouse
Brand Name
Industry Public utility
Founded 2002
Headquarters London, England, UK
Products
Parent Telecom Plus PLC
Website Utility Warehouse

Utility Warehouse is a multi-utility provider based in London, England. It is the brand name for its parent company, Telecom Plus,[1] with Utility Warehouse operating as a separate brand.[2] It currently handles over 500,000 customer accounts with the help of over 40,000 independent distributors. Utility Warehouse supplies customers with landline telephony, mobile telephony, broadband, gas, and electricity.[3] The Utility Warehouse brand is the primary engine of revenue generation for Telecom Plus.[2]

History

The Utility Warehouse brand has been linked to Telecom Plus since 2002 when Telecom Plus launched it as a single brand to encompass all of the company's residential services. Since then, Utility Warehouse has been the operating brand for all of Telecom Plus's residential energy, telephony and broadband offerings.[4]

In 2006, Utility Warehouse and Telecom Plus entered into an agreement with npower that tasked npower with supplying energy (gas and electricity) to Utility Warehouse customers.[2] Utility Warehouse essentially sold two subsidiaries (Electricity Plus and Gas Plus) to npower. In 2013, however, npower sold the two former Telecom Plus subsidiaries back to Utility Warehouse for £218 million.[5] As a result, Utility Warehouse became one of the largest independent energy suppliers in the UK[2][5] with over 500,000 customers and 770,000 gas and electricity supply points to their name.[3] The deal also sparked commentary about the possibility of npower's parent company RWE leaving the UK, or the emergence of a "Big Seven" in place of the existing Big Six Energy Suppliers.[1][2][6]

Operation

Utility Warehouse operates as part of the Telecom Plus holding company. It employs a multi-level marketing model that utilizes independent distributors to obtain new customers. Distributors introduce both residential and business customers.[4] The Utility Warehouse headquarters is based in North London.[7]

The Institute of Customer Service listed the Utility Warehouse listed as the companies with the 2nd best customer service in the UK in their 2016 survey. [8]

Because Utility Warehouse does not operate shops or engage in advertising, they rely entirely on word-of-mouth referrals from their independent distributors and existing customers.[4][7] As of 2014, Utility Warehouse supplies gas, electricity, broadband, mobile and landline telephony.[3] Their telephony and energy services are often bundled to theoretically reduce costs for customers.[5] The company sets their own tariffs and provides customer service for each of their customers.[2]

A 2009 article by The Guardian reported that Telecom Plus's rates were generally average, and as much as 20% higher than the best deals.[9]

In 2009, consumer group Which? ranked Telecom Plus as having the highest customer satisfaction for home telephone service.[9] According to a 2014 survey by USwitch, Utility Warehouse had the second highest costumer satisfaction behind Good Energy.,[10] since which time they have picked up numerous other independent awards.

Marketing

Utility Warehouse has no shops and does not advertise on television or in the national press. The company has focused on word-of-mouth as a primary means of promotion, and offers bonuses to distributors who recruit new customers and distributors. Distributors gain a commission from both their own customers, and their distributor's customers, making Telecom Plus a multi-level marketing company. There is a £100 joining cost to become a distributor.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 "Npower sells some subsidiaries to Telecom Plus for £218m". BBC. 20 November 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gosden, Emily (20 November 2013). "Utility Warehouse buys 770,000 customer accounts from npower in £218m deal". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 Macalister, Terry; Jennifer Rankin (20 November 2013). "RWE npower supply sale raises fears over UK withdrawal". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 Tieman, Ross (13 March 2009). "Company of the Year: Telecom Plus". Financial Times. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 Chazan, Guy (20 November 2013). "Telecom Plus deal to challenge big six UK energy suppliers". Financial Times. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  6. ↑ Gosden, Emily (20 November 2013). "Energy challenger Telecom Plus leaps to Big Six's defence". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  7. 1 2 Stafford, Philip (29 March 2009). "Telecom Plus boosted by word-of-mouth support". Financial Times. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  8. ↑ Davidson, Lauren (20 Jan 2016). "The companies with the best customer service in the UK". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 Jan 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 Jones, Rupert (4 December 2009). "Utility Warehouse under the spotlight". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  10. ↑ Meyer, Harriet. "Switch to small energy suppliers, consumers urged". Retrieved 12 May 2014.

External links

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