Marks and Spencer has today announced that it is joining forces with Octopus Energy in a new partnership to supply household energy under the M&S Energy brand, once its current deal with SSE ends in September.
M&S said the new deal with challenger Octopus Energy aims to revamp its energy offering, and looks to challenge the dominance of the big six UK energy suppliers which consist of, British Gas, SSE, EDF, Npower, E.On and Scottish Power. The move is set to disrupt the traditional energy market, in particular the so called “punitive tease and squeeze pricing policies”, which relate to the practice of offering new customers cheaper rates, at the expense of longer term customers.
The company said the M&S and Octopus partnership will instead offer a more transparent pricing model.
Head of M&S Energy, Jonathan Hazeldine, said: “Octopus’ values of responsible and transparent pricing and digital-first customer service mirror our ambitions for the business.”
“Together, we can challenge the traditional energy market and bring green energy to millions of households at a competitive and fair price.”
Octopus Energy was founded by Greg Jackson in 2011 on the belief that “buying energy should be as simple as buying cornflakes.” Since then Octopus has acquired more than 200,000 customers and has maintained a 5-star Trust Pilot ranking with 9.5 of out of 10, and in 2018, it became a Which? Recommended Energy Provider.
The company has also received prestigious awards such as the uSwitch Energy Supplier of the Year Winner in 2018 and was UK Customer Experience Award Winner in 2017.
Octopus Energy Founder and CEO, Greg Jackson, said the partnership will facilitate “dramatically better customer experience online”.
“M&S’s choice of Octopus for this vital service is a great vote of confidence in our vision for energy.
“M&S will be using the digital technology we’ve built, enabling dramatically better customer experience online, and helping drive the M&S digitisation strategy.”
The new service will override the current service with SSE on September 29. M&S Energy customers will be contacted in the next few weeks about their options. According to the consumer advisor, Which?, customers can register on the new M&S energy website to ensure they automatically switch to Octopus Energy when the changes come into effect.