The Big Switch (Which/38 Degrees)

meggsy

The only point I can see at the moment is that they may have signed up those who have never switched previously.

My personal quote should be interesting as I am already a customer of Coop Energy

deshepherd

He added: 'The fact that one of the smaller suppliers, Co-operative Energy, was able to win shows that collective switching can help shake up the market for consumers and marks an important step on the road to energy market reform.'

An alternative cynical view is that one of the smaller suppliers saw an opportunity to greatly raise their profile for a fairly small cost

leicsmark

Co-operative Energy argue that they offer one tarriff without any exit penalties and also don't offer new customers cheaper tarriffs.

So won't this destroy two of their founding principles?

meggsy

leicsmark wrote: »

Co-operative Energy argue that they offer one tarriff without any exit penalties and also don't offer new customers cheaper tarriffs.

So won't this destroy two of their founding principles?

No, because the new tariff is available to existing customers as well, I believe they established this with Which before they agreed to take part.

alanq

MSE article.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/utilities/2012/05/co-operative-energy-wins-whichs-big-switch

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

Big Business aims to thrawt the Initiative quelle surprise, why is'n't MSE getting behind this and putting conservative suspicions behind them?

Ypaymore

"Ethical energy supplier Co-operative Energy has emerged triumphant in the Which? Big Switch, winning the ground-breaking energy auction with its simple-to-understand, market-leading tariffs.
The gas and electricity supplier that celebrated its first birthday on the day of the auction (May 9th) and has 25,000 customers, beat bids from other suppliers to be named as the winner and most competitive energy supplier for all three categories – online direct debit, offline direct debit and the cash and cheque category.
More than 280,000 people registered for the Which? Big Switch, the UK’s first collective switching initiative, designed to unite the buying power of customers and help drive down energy bills. The reverse auction invited energy suppliers to bid for customers who had registered with the Big Switch. A total of five suppliers entered bids across the three categories.
Co-operative Energy’s Nigel Mason explained: “We’re delighted to have emerged as the winner in the Which? Big Switch auction. It proves that we are highly competitive and that our values, the things that we believe are important, are important to customers. ”
“We’re also delighted to see the success of this first, large-scale collective buying scheme which is a great example of united buying, a principle at the heart of the co-operative movement.”
Nigel explained: “We have used the auction as a launch pad for our new fixed rate tariff for people who want certainty about the rates they pay. People need to stay with us for a minimum of 12 months and that allows us to offer a slightly reduced unit rate for both gas and electricity.”
The win is expected to see up to 30,000 new customers join Co-operative Energy and people who registered with Which? Big Switch will receive a personalised email telling them the results of the auction and how much of a saving they can make by switching to Co-operative Energy.
Co-operative Energy has capped the number of people who can join through the auction at 30,000. That’s 20,000 new fixed rate customers on Pioneer Fixed and 10,000 new variable rate customers on Pioneer Variable. Joining will be on a first come, first served basis. The new Pioneer Fixed tariff will not be available to the general public. Entries for the Big Switch close on May 28th."





SEE: http://www.cooperativeenergy.coop/news-and-views/

Terrylw1

Damp squib...

Now, what if one of the big 6 undercut this deal given its close to EDF Blue & FU anyway...250k customers on the Which list desert them...

Marketing exercise with very low impact. 30k switchers, what's that, maybe one month of churn to one of the big 6?

MillicentBystander

So they are looking to double their customer numbers in a very short time frame? I'm getting EDF 2011 vibes. :eek:

meggsy

MillicentBystander wrote: »

So they are looking to double their customer numbers in a very short time frame? I'm getting EDF 2011 vibes. :eek:

No worries, it will be fine

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2012/05/03/co-op-call-centre-to-create-50-new-jobs/