Vaughan to depart Eon as part of restructure

Eon UK’s political & regulatory affairs director Sara Vaughan is to leave the company after 23 years, as part of a restructure, Utility Week can reveal.

The company has created a new “decentralised” structure to incorporate the transition of Npower.

This will see responsibility for many support functions devolved to three standalone divisions – residential & SME supply, industrial & commercial supply and energy infrastructure services. The latter will incorporate smart metering, energy efficiency and e-mobility.

Eon cited roles such as strategy, legal support, regulation and some areas of marketing as being examples of functions transferring to the new pillars.

Chief executive Michael Lewis said: “We need to make sure we’re equipped to thrive in the future. Part of that is being set up in the right way to reflect our customers’ needs – at home, in business, and across entire communities – and to make sure we remain a sustainable business that can compete in the tough conditions of the UK energy market.

“Just as we were set up to lead the transition in the energy industry from fossil fuels to renewables, this restructuring is about successfully transforming and reorganising our teams so we can serve our customers better, faster and with greater flexibility. One example of this is the migration of former Npower customers on to our new Eon Next platform and using the advantages of this new system for their benefit.”

The company, which announced 4,500 redundancies as part of the integration of Npower last year, stressed that there would be no further job cuts as a result of the restructure. However, Vaughan will leave her role in November.

Lewis added: “It’s fair to say Eon and the wider energy sector is almost unrecognisable from the industry Sara joined back in 1997. Since then, Sara has been instrumental in the development and evolution of our business, first as a lawyer but then more broadly as she expanded her role and broadened her influence. Sara has steered Eon successfully through countless internal and external changes and always enabled our business to adapt and respond.

“It is a measure of her abilities that Eon has always been able to positively influence the development of energy policy in the UK, even at the most challenging times, and I would like to thank Sara for her enormous contribution and for her invaluable support over the years.”

Vaughan said: “Whilst I am excited about taking on fresh challenges in the future, I am tremendously sad to be leaving my team and all the people who have made Eon a great place to work across many years.

“I’m hugely proud of the way we have worked to put the voice of the customer at the heart of what we do and equally of our track record of engaging with Ofgem, the UK government, consumer advocacy groups and many, many others in what I hope has been seen as a constructive and cooperative way.”