Marks & Spencer expands into energy market

Published 15th Oct 2008

Marks & Spencer is to start selling heat and light alongside slippers and underwear as part of a new deal with Scottish and Southern Energy.

Shoppers will be able to buy gas and electricity in stores and online and will get rewards, in the form of M&S vouchers, for signing up, renewing their contracts and cutting their power consumption.

SSE said M&S Energy customers will pay the same price as its existing customers who take both gas and power and who pay by direct debit - £1,196 a year for an average user.

A spokeswoman for M&S said the idea was to take the confusion out of buying gas and electric: "As a business we buy a lot of energy ourselves. It is complicated, so we are going to give people a choice they know they can trust. The service will also enable customers to reduce their energy consumption and their bills."

The new energy offer is part of a push by M&S to start selling a wider range of goods and services and to expand into new areas. The retailer now sells a range of electrical goods and is trialling branded foods in 19 supermarkets in the north-east.

It is also expanding its international division, and two weeks ago opened its first store in China - in Shanghai.

SSE, which ranks second behind British Gas among the big six in the residential energy market and has around 8.5 million customers, aims to use the link with M&S to grow its market share. "It is a new channel to reach additional customers," an SSE spokesman said. "We want to continue to grow. We expect to continue to grow."

SSE has committed to secure electricity generated by hydro-electric plant to match that used by M&S Energy customers.

The power company already has around 1,400 megawatts of hydro generation and is close to completing a scheme that will add another 100MW.

The M&S Energy offer rewards customers with a £15 voucher if they reduce their annual energy usage by 10%. Customers who opt for paperless billing will get another £10 voucher.

Dual-fuel customers switching to M&S Energy will also receive a £20 M&S voucher on signing and a further £10 voucher for each year they remain with M&S Energy.

The energy deal goes online and into 16 stores on October 27 and will be extended to 62 stores by the end of next month.

The M&S spokeswoman said meter reading, bad debt collection and disconnections would be handled by SSE, which has set up a specialist M&S customer service team: "They are sector leaders when it comes to service. They reflect our brand values."

Carl Leaver, director of International, Home & M&S Direct, said: "M&S Energy is an exciting addition to our range of services. The energy sector can be quite complex and we want to make it simpler for our customers. We also understand that the cost of living has risen for many customers and we hope to encourage them to save money by reducing their energy usage.

"Our partnership with Scottish and Southern Energy is based on our shared commitment to offer great-value products supported by excellent service. Together we've developed an extremely competitively priced product that will help M&S Energy customers to help the environment."

Alistair Phillips-Davies, SSE's energy supply director, said: "I am confident that our partnership will deliver a market-leading product ... It shows energy supply in this country is constantly evolving with new products, services and ways of communicating with customers."

Source: ' guardian '

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