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Eversmart Energy has appointed Lee Dearden as its new head of customer service.

The Manchester-based energy provider has brought in Dearden to help steer further expansion of the customer service team, which has grown by 12 since January. Part of his remit will be to maintain and improve processes in what the company describes as its “anticipated growth.”

Dearden previously spent more than 12 years with Eon, finishing his career there as service delivery manager. He said: “Eversmart Energy is expanding rapidly by aiming to offer cheaper energy, and customer service quality comes hand-in-hand with that. It’s my mission to work with the team not only to manage our anticipated growth, but also to deliver truly exemplary customer service to our customers across the UK.

“We are already working on some major improvements. These include a new billing system, a new website and technology portal with improved help service solutions, revised shift patterns to ensure better coverage and new KPIs and reporting platforms.

“Ongoing we will be implementing regular adviser coaching with the leadership team and are planning further recruitment in roles specific to continuous improvement. We are also set to implement smarter IVR (interactive voice response) routing, creating an end-to-end complaint ownership process and devising manageable SLAs (service level agreements).

“Customers generally choose an energy supplier based on two key priorities: price and customer service.  It is our mission to lead on both.”

Created by chief executive Barney Cook, Eversmart launched in August 2016. It now has nearly 40,000 customers with over 100 staff at its Manchester offices. Last month, it launched a new fixed tariff which it claimed was the cheapest on the market.

In April, Eversmart revealed it had paid all of its remaining Renewables Obligation payments after it failed to meet the original and extended deadline last year.

At the start of 2019, the company pulled a controversial tariff from the market that required customers to pay for a year’s worth of energy up front.

Following feedback from industry stakeholders, Eversmart decided to temporarily stop offering the Family Saver Club tariff which was launched in October 2018.

The company said existing customers would be left on the tariff unless they chose to switch.