Shell Energy Retail Limited, formerly First Utility, is a supplier of gas, electricity and broadband in the United Kingdom. In October 2013 the Coventry-based company was ranked as the seventh largest supplier in the UK, making it the largest outside the Big Six. By September 2014 the company had a market share of 2% and in March 2019 it had 700,000 customers. The company does not generate electricity, instead purchasing it from international markets. The company had a relationship with Shell, where it acted as an intermediary to purchase wholesale energy on the global market. Shell reached an agreement to purchase the company in December 2017, and completed the acquisition in February 2018. Rebranding to Shell Energy took place in March 2019 and the business now forms part of Shell's New Energies division.
History
The company was launched in 2008 by co-founders Mark Daeche, Darren Braham and Marcus Citron as a spin-out from First Telecom. In January 2012, the company appointed the former lastminute.com CEO Ian McCaig as its new CEO. In January 2014, the company signed a three-year deal to become title sponsors of the Super League. In September 2014, the firm announced it was considering an initial public offering or outside investment to fund foreign expansion. In September 2015, the company announced an expansion into Germany to be branded as Shell. In September 2015, Reuters reported that First Utility had doubled customer numbers in three of the last four years, adding 275,000 customers in the year to July 2015. Shell reached an agreement to buy the company in December 2017, and the deal was completed on 28 February 2018. In March 2019, the company announced all customers would be supplied with electricity from 100% renewable sources. First Utility offered Internet access service, bundled with line rental and phone calls, and this was continued under the Shell Energy brand.
Acquisitions
In October 2019, Shell Energy agreed the £10.5m purchase of the customers of Green Star Energy, a brand of Canada's Just Energy. Green Star had around 200,000 residential gas and electricity customers.
Technology
Being a small new entrant to the market allowed the company to experiment with new technology without the burden of having to migrate large numbers of customers from legacy systems. The company was the first in the UK to offer smart meters to its residential customers. This also gave the company experience of a large smart meter roll-out programme. The company has partnered with various other providers including oPower and Google PowerMeter to provide customers with access to usage data.
Customer relations
Ofgem issued a disciplinary order against the company in December 2010 for failing to protect vulnerable customers. In April 2012 the new chief executive Ian McCaig said:
Criticism
In 2014, the company received criticism for the tone of its energy saving advice. When it was reported that shadow Energy Minister Tom Greatrex had said the advice was an "insult" to millions of people, the company's reported response was that "These tips are meant to provide some advice on how we might reduce our energy usage and absolutely not intended to trivialise the issue of fuel poverty, something we take very seriously."
