Opus Energy

Opus Energy has begun a programme to educate its smart meter customers on how to make the most of their smart meter data.

Opus Energy kicked-off its partnership with Mencap with a week’s worth of fundraising (from 8-12 April) which resulted in a grand total of £3,398.54 being raised for the charity, a figure which Opus Energy will then match bringing the total to £6,797.08. A host of inventive and daring fundraising challenges were undertaken by employees, who competed against different departments of the company to see who could raise the most money. Amongst the challenges were Man vs. Food marshmallow eating competitions, men’s leg waxing, and musical talent shows. The amount raised means that Opus Energy employees are well on their way to raising £20,000 for the charity over the next year. Mikey, Customer Service Advisor, Opus Energy’s Northampton office said: "I wanted to do something a little different for the Mencap charity week, so decided to do an Ant and Dec tribute act. My colleague and I put in hours of training so that once the day was upon us we were lean, mean, Mencap fundraising machines! During lunch break we performed in front of crowd after crowd all in the name of charity, raising just over £135 for Mencap." Charlie Crossley Cooke, Managing Director, Opus Energy, comments: “The support and creative thinking from staff for the Mencap Challenge has been fantastic and we have been blown away by the amount of money that everybody has raised. It was a fun week and we look forward to seeing even more inventive fundraising ideas as we continue with our pledge to raise £20K for this great cause.” Marie Brown, Regional Development Manager, Mencap, commented: “We get the opportunity to work with some amazing people who care very passionately about the support their fundraising gives to people with a learning disability, but the work of Opus Energy has astounded the team. We are thrilled to work with such an enthusiastic and proactive bunch of people. I met some of the fundraisers during their challenge week and the business really was buzzing. The total raised is testament to that hard work and dedication. I am really looking forward to seeing what fun ideas Opus Energy’s employees come up with for the rest of the year. What a fantastic start.”

Employees from Opus Energy, the Northampton-based b2b energy supplier, aim to raise £10,000 for Mencap over the next year in order to progress the work that it does to help the 5,000 people in Northamptonshire with a learning disability to lead independent lives. Opus Energy will then match any funds raised, bringing the grand total to £20,000.

In addition, Opus Energy will also be supporting Rainbows Hospice, an East Midlands-based hospice which offers care to children and young people with life-limiting conditions.

“We chose to support Mencap and Rainbow Hospice as we wanted to directly support the local community – the charities are of vital importance to so many people in Northamptonshire. Our previous fundraising efforts have encouraged our employees to challenge themselves and get involved in helping the local community, so this year will be no exception,” said Charlie Crossley Cooke, Managing Director, Opus Energy.

The announcement adds to the active fundraising and charity giving which Opus Energy has undertaken since 2010, during which time over £46k was raised for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust – details of the fundraising activities are available on the Opus Energy Challenge website. In addition, last year’s Opus Energy Gift video competition saw £10k given away by the company to help fund projects of local community groups and charities.

Opus Energy has topped Datamonitor’s 2012 B2B energy buyer Customer Satisfaction Survey, published on 13th March 2013.

In the survey, 1,000 small and medium energy users were asked how satisfied they were with their energy supplier. Opus Energy has consistently risen up the league table to reach position 1 in 2012.

Commenting on the results, Charlie Crossley Cooke, Managing Director, Opus Energy: “This result is due to our innovative and customer-focused approach, which has enabled us to offer a real alternative for b2b energy buyers.

“We attribute this continued rise up the league table to the strong emphasis we have been placing on training and development, ensuring our staff always place the customer first. To combine our commitment to account handling with nurturing young talent in the local community, we announced ten new apprenticeships during this week’s National Apprenticeship Week.”

Four Opus Energy employees, who were amongst the company’s charity fundraisers, presented a cheque for £26,911.80 to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust on Tuesday 12th March.

Gary, who was one of five employees who completed a bike ride from London to Paris in the summer which raised r£4,377, donned his cycling gear to present the cheque. He said: "I encourage anyone that gets the opportunity to take part in the London to Paris Bike ride. Not only will you be raising money for a great cause, and riding with others that are doing the same, but the sense of achievement in cycling 300 miles is a wonderful feeling. Opus Energy was kind enough to give me that chance and I will be forever grateful that they did!"

Amongst the other employees who presented the cheque were Chris and Simon from the band Sons Of The Helots, who brought rock ‘n’ roll to Northampton on 8th March at the Opus Rocks charity gig night, raising £828.

Charlie Crossley Cooke, Managing Director, Opus Energy, comments: “We are always thrilled to see that our employees are up for a challenge in order to raise money for charity. Their phenomenal efforts over the last few years have raised a total of £46,945 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, which the Trust uses towards helping the 75 children and adults in Northamptonshire who are affected by the disease.”

Sue Piper, Senior Corporate Fundraising Manager, Cystic Fibrosis Trust, commented: “We are so grateful to Opus Energy and its staff team, who have put a lot of effort into fundraising and reached this fantastic sum. Support from companies like Opus Energy makes such a difference to people affected by cystic fibrosis. It allows us to push forward with our exciting research plans and drive up the standards of care for people living with the disease.”

Charlie Crossley Cooke concludes: “This is a real benchmark for our collective fundraising efforts for the next year. We have decided to support two charities in 2013/14, and are currently running an office ballot to find a national charity and a smaller charity to support, based on nominations put forward by our employees.”

Northampton-based Opus Energy has announced it will be awarding ten new NVQ Apprenticeship positions to local people in 2013, five of whom will start working at the company during National Apprenticeship Week on 11th March.   The announcement follows the successful launch of Opus Energy’s apprenticeship scheme last year, when 11 apprenticeship roles were awarded. In order to fill the ten new positions, Opus Energy is working closely with Northampton College to identify local, talented individuals looking to work in the energy sector.

Annamarie Petsis Jones, Head of HR, Learning and Development at Opus Energy (pictured), comments: “The majority of the apprentices that we took on last year were young, unemployed local people. We have been bowled over by the success of the scheme – not only has Opus Energy made such a positive impact on the lives of the apprentices, but they have brought a lot to the company.”

The ten apprenticeship roles announced today will be filled during two intakes scheduled for the year - five in March and a further five in September – and will be awarded across two key roles within Opus Energy:

Apprentice Customer Service Administrator Diploma in Business Administration (Level 2)

Apprentice Customer Service Advisor Diploma in Customer Service (Level 2)

Each NVQ Diploma has been tailored to suit Opus Energy’s specific requirements, with starting salaries double those of usual apprenticeship rates. Opus Energy has also made a pledge to track the successful candidates’ development closely and offer them the opportunity to move on to an NVQ Level 3 upon completion of their apprenticeship. The progress of the 2012 apprentice intake is also being followed via a series of videos, which are available from Opus Energy’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/opusenergyltd.

Simon Stewart, Head of Enterprise at Northampton College, added: “Apprenticeships are a fantastic way of starting and building a career in today’s world. We’re pleased that Opus Energy is a local employer who is seeing apprenticeships as a strategic method of developing their business over time.”

In addition to the NVQ Apprenticeship Scheme, Opus Energy has recently introduced a Coaching and Mentoring Certificate to allow employees to share knowledge and provide guidance to less experienced staff members, including the new apprentices joining the company. Prospective mentors are nominated by their line managers and are required to complete training in modules such as ‘Inspiring Communication’ and ‘Coaching & Giving Feedback’. Upon completion of the programme, they will be certified by Opus Energy.

Opus Energy is proud to release a video to announce its sponsorship of the Energy Live Consultancy Awards.   Energy Live News have launched the awards because they believe there is fantastic work done in the consultancy business which needs to be recognised, but also because they want to set a gold standard for best practice.   The video – which is available from the Opus Energy Ltd YouTube channel - features Steve James, Director, Opus Energy, explaining the importance of the awards. Opus Energy is sponsoring the Industrial & Commercial (I&C) Most Innovative Consultancy category of the awards, which recognises consultants which strive to benefit their customers by implementing new ideas.   Steve James said: “We wanted to be part of the Energy Live Consultancy Awards in order to pay tribute to the hard work of consultants. They are a key part of the energy industry, as they help to facilitate innovation in an ever changing market.”  The launch of Opus Energy’s internet-based buying tool - Opus Evolution - exemplifies the role consultants play in driving market innovation as it was developed following feedback from consultants.

Consultants are encouraged to apply via the TELCA website by noon on 15th April 2013. Entries will be judged by an independent panel of experts:   • Mervyn Bowden – Chair of Judges • Sarah Nottidge – Associated British Foods  • Clarice Camacho – Diageo  • Sam Evans – Yorkshire Water  • Jasmin Keogh – Tarmac  • David Medori – Home Retail Group  • James Summerbell – Tesco  • Kirstie Johnson – Anchor  • Cameron Stewart – BASF  • Matthew Armstrong – Springfields Fuels   Winners will be announced at a ceremony in London on 27th June.

Steve James concluded: “Opus Energy would also like to extend its thanks to the Energy Live team, who are bringing more attention to the energy industry – both internally and externally – through relevant and topical news articles. We are delighted to be able to partner with them and congratulate them for launching these awards.”

For full details on the awards, visit http://telca.co.uk/.

A headline act from the Northampton music festival, Whiteroom, has announced that it will be joining other bands from Northamptonshire at a charity gig night - Opus Rocks - organised by Northampton-based Opus Energy, on Friday 8th March at the Picturedrome, Northampton.

The Cystic Fibrosis Trust has been Opus Energy’s chosen charity since 2010, during which time over £40,000 has been raised for the cause. The money is used to help research cures and provide treatment for the life-threatening inherited disease, which affects 75 children and adults in Northamptonshire alone. Opus Energy’s support of the Opus Rocks gig night will see all proceeds being donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, and any profits made will be matched by the company.

Whiteroom, well-known for performing throughout Northamptonshire and the surrounding area, will be joined by Sons Of The Helots, The Fallows and Heather Adelle Jones.

Chris, an Opus Energy employee and singer in Sons Of The Helots: “We’re thrilled to be playing, it’s a great way to raise money for a fantastic cause and bring rock ‘n’ roll to Northampton. The audience is in for a treat!”

Ciaran, drummer in The Fallows and an Opus Energy employee: “We’re a great supporter of all charities - the Cystic Fibrosis Trust does great work and this gig was the perfect opportunity to show our support. We’ve been busy recording our second album, so the Opus Rocks gig will serve as an ideal warm up before we go on tour in the summer; we have more than a dozen festival performances lined up as part of a multiple date headline tour across England, Ireland and Europe.”

Annamarie Petsis Jones, Head of Human Resources, Learning and Development, Opus Energy: “A great night is on the cards with this line up of established and up-and-coming Northampton bands, some of whom feature Opus Energy employees. Thanks to the bands and our employees for supporting the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.”

Opus Energy has released results of research which suggests UK businesses are becoming increasingly interested in generating renewable power from their own sites.

The survey showed that 15% of business leaders surveyed by Opus Energy are already generating renewable power, an increase of 9% compared to the findings from 2011.

A further comparison to the 2011 findings relates to businesses who expect to introduce renewable generators (such as solar panels, wind turbines, hydro power and anaerobic) to their sites. The recent research shows that 39% of those surveyed expect to make these introductions, and 48% of those expect to do so within two years. This is almost double the 2011 findings, at which time just 26% were looking to introduce renewable energy within five years.

Interestingly, 20% of SME business owners aged 55+ already generate renewable power from their businesses – this is the highest percentage of all the age groups surveyed.

Mirroring the survey results, Opus Energy is experiencing a growing level of interest from companies signing up to its renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs). By signing these agreements with businesses that are generating renewable power, Opus Energy is able to purchase their excess renewable power to supply to its customers.

Renewable energy generation can benefit businesses by giving them an opportunity to bolster their corporate social responsibility credentials whilst also generating additional income for the sale of any excess power. In line with this, the Opus Energy survey showed that the main benefits for renewable energy generation were: • self-sufficient supply of energy (28%) • generation of additional income (23%), and • ‘doing our bit’ to tackle climate change (17%)

Other key findings from the survey relate to income being the largest encouragement to businesses to generate their own renewable power: • a government grant or subsidy to help set something up (52%) • if it could be proven that it would make money (46%), and • if the government introduced extra taxes/penalties for not doing so (23%)

Opus Energy announced its 500th renewable PPA agreement at the end of 2012. Examples of signings from last year include: Knocknain Farm in Scotland, which sells 100% of its 330KW wind turbine’s power to Opus Energy; and the Port of Milford Haven, which sells the solar power from 13 of its sites to Opus Energy.

Charlie Crossley Cooke, Managing Director, Opus Energy, comments on the research findings: “It is great to see companies shifting up a gear to the idea of powering their businesses by generating their own renewable energy. The Opus Energy renewables team looks forward to working with companies to help them realise the extra revenue and benefits that they can gain from entering the renewables market.”

Opus Energy is marking 2012 as a successful year; the company has experienced significant growth, with revenue increasing by 38%.

Fuelling this growth has been the rising interest amongst companies in generating their own renewable power. Opus Energy purchases this renewable power that businesses generate on their own premises. To do so, it enters into power purchase agreements (PPAs); to date it has entered into PPAs with over 500 renewable generators. This renewable energy is then supplied to Opus Energy’s customers.

Opus Energy’s growth is also mirrored by the expansion of its corporate customer base. This expansion of this area of the business – which currently stands at over 56,000 sites – can be attributed to the continual increase in customers signing up to Opus Evolution, the flexible electricity commodity purchasing product. Earlier this year, new functionality to the product – called ‘Fix/Unfix’ - was launched. This enables already purchased power to be sold back to Opus Energy.

Judges at this year’s Growing Business Awards recognised this growth, commenting on Opus Energy for its “fantastic commitment to customer service quality and innovation. Financial performance is strong, and the testimonials from its customers are brilliant.”

Opus Energy are dedicated to making sure the power we bring to our customers is as clean, green and renewable as possible. Through a number of international deals and increasing the amount of energy we purchase from the UK we’ve managed to meet our goals successfully.

In the past three years (between April ‘09 and March ‘12) Opus Energy have managed to make sure that 72% of the energy we supply to our clients came from cleaner, low-carbon sources.

45% came from our renewable generators and 26% came from cleaner Combined Heat and Power (CHP) produced by CHP generators.

Where Does Our Clean Energy Come From?

Scandinavia              63.1%

England                    25.1%

Scotland                    6.0%

Other                        3.7%

Wales                        2.1%

What Produces Our Cleaner Energy?

Hydropower                      40%

Cleaner CHP                      37%

Windpwer                          14%

Biomass & Landfill Gas      9%

 UK Olympic hopeful, Daniel Keatings, has helped launch a new workplace wellbeing campaign this week for business power provider, Opus Energy.

  Keatings’ introduced the ‘Opus Energise’ scheme with an inspiring and motivational talk to Opus Energy’s employees. Following the company’s ‘First class’ rating under the Best Companies accreditation scheme, Opus has launched the initiative as a thank you to its staff for ongoing support. Opus Energise seeks to increase the overall physical and mental wellbeing of the business’s workforce, which has grown by over 70 employees since last autumn.

  Staff will benefit from various Opus Energise scheme initiatives, including:

·         Health checks and advice;

·         Quarterly health challenges, starting with a pedometer team competition;

·         Volunteering days;

·         Free access to occupational health;

·         An online health and wellbeing information portal;

·         Discounted gym membership; and

·         Cycle to work initiatives.

  Valuable feedback, identifying a need, identified in the results from an Opus  staff questionnaire helped to drive and shape the Opus Energise scheme, which plans to create a healthy and motivating work environment.

  Daniel Keatings - a pommel horse gymnast, sponsored by Opus Energy - stated: “It is great to work with an organisation that understands the value of getting its staff involved in exercise and thinking about their health. I know it’s not a simple thing to do, especially when you work all day, so I hope that my talk inspired the company’s staff to stay healthy and fit and get the most out of the new Opus Energise initiative.”

  The Managing Director of Opus Energy, Charlie Crossley Cooke commented: “Opus Energy has experienced considerable growth over the past year; we now employ more than 435 people across both our Oxford and Northampton sites. The Opus Energise scheme is another way for us to show our on-going commitment to and investment in our staff.”

Opus Energy has recently sponsored a one-day shooting event which raised £56,512 for the motor neurone disease charity, Heaton-Ellis Trust.

The Shooting Challenge event was held at The Royal Berkshire Shooting School on Friday 25th May 2012. Twenty three teams took part in ten competitive clay pigeon shooting drives. The company also held an auction during the day, with prizes including: tickets to the Paralympic Games at the Olympics, a 4-night skiing and polo trip in the snow at Klosters, a day’s entertainment at the British Grand Prix, rugby tickets to the Autumn Internationals at Twickenham, a track day at Silverstone racecourse, and a helicopter lesson.

Through the Opus Energy sponsorship event, the Heaton-Ellis Trust gained £56,512 to help fund research into discovering cures and causes for motor neurone disease, led by Professor Christopher Shaw at King’s College London.

For every £1 that was raised during the event a further £3 was contributed by the Medical Research Council (MRC), the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA), and the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Association in the gene hunting effort.

Opus Energy’s Managing Director Charlie Crossley Cooke stated: “Opus Energy has supported the Heaton-Ellis Trust’s shooting events for the past two years, raising more than £111,000 for the Trust. We’re always thrilled by everyone’s generosity.”

Opus Energy, a British power supplier, and Champion gymnast Daniel Keatings, recently visited two primary schools in Northamptonshire. Keatings spoke to over 300 primary school children about the exciting summer he has in store with the possibility of him being chosen to compete in the 2012 Olympics.

Children from Chiltern Primary School and Little Houghton Church of England Primary School were left amazed after witnessing Daniel's pommel horse routine. The pupils were also given the opportunity to ask Daniel questions and these focused around what motivates him, his training programme, and his daily routine.

The primary school children were captivated when Keatings - who is viewed as one of the UK’s best gymnastics – gave some of them the chance to take part in a mini routine with him, consisting of forward rolls, cartwheels, and handstands.

Mrs. Penny Howell, the Head Teacher at Chiltern Primary School commented, "The children were delighted when we announced that a famous gymnast would be visiting our school. They were all desperate to take part in Daniel’s routines and thought it was great that their classmates got to witness."

Mrs. Carolyn Fairbrother, the Head Teacher at Little Houghton Church of England Primary School commented, "We have been talking about the forthcoming Olympics a lot in class and the children have been getting quite excited. Having the chance to meeting Daniel and watch his gym routine was the icing on the cake!"

Opus Energy’s employees raised a total of £20,034 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust during 2011. The company’s staff took part in a range of fundraising activities including golf, football and running to help raise money for the trust.

Opus Energy’s Credit Co-ordinator Cara Kelly completed a 10-day trek in the Peruvian Andes during November 2011 and raised £1,713 for the trust.  Adam Kelly completed 7 marathons in 7 days and gained more than £1,900 for CFT, and 9 of the company’s sales team took part in The Run Northamptonshire during October, which raised a further £1,270 for the charity of which Opus Energy then agreed to double.

Opus Energy’s Managing Director, Charlie Crossley Cooke stated: “We made the choice to support the Cystic Fibrosis Trust because the charity is one that is close to our hearts – one of our staff members has a son who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis, so we wanted to do what we could to show our support for them and help others with same disorder. We are thrilled with the amount of money we have raised for the charity. It is an amazing accomplishment, pulled off by a group of our most adventurous employees. This was a great way to end 2011, and a high target for our fundraising efforts in 2012, which has seen us continue to support the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. We are pledging that our employees will raise a further £10,000 for the Trust which Opus will match – giving an extra £20,000 to this great cause.”

Opus Energy has entered in an agreement with Danish power company, Nordjysk Elhandel (NEAS). The business specialises in renewables for the trading and balancing of wind power production from wind turbine generators in Britain.

Charlie Crossley Cooke, Managing Director, of Opus Energy commented, “Wind energy generation is expanding rapidly in the United Kingdom and we at Opus Energy want to secure the best possible set-up in production management for wind power generators. The cooperation with Danish power company, NEAS gives us competencies in trading of wind power and access to state-of-the-art services in balancing and scheduling of wind energy. This will provide British wind power generators with the maximum value and best service for their production and associated certificates. We believe this cooperation will help us gain a competitive edge and enable us to grow our market for wind power generation”.

There is approximately 5,970 MW installed capacity of wind energy in the United Kingdom. However, this number is expected to dramatically rise to over 10,000 MW by 2015 and increase to more than 20,000 MW by 2020. These figures are based on the wind turbines planned, approved or presently under construction.

Bo Lynge Rydahl, CEO at NEAS commented “at NEAS we have devoted many resources into building the strongest possible set-up in the trading and production management of wind power. For example, we have developed specialized IT systems for balancing and scheduling of wind power generation as well as having our own meteorologists and analysts forecasting production volumes. Also, we have many years of experience in the trading of wind power in Denmark, Germany and Sweden. Our cooperation with Opus Energy provides us with a highly skilled partner to market our services for wind energy generators in Britain”.