C2C commercial customers

To realise the capacity benefits that Capacity to Customers (C₂C) can offer requires new and/or existing customers to adopt new forms of commercial arrangements. The trial area affected 12% of our customers, of which approximately 1,200 were industrial and commercial (I&C) customers. We contacted all of our I&C customers on the selected circuits directly, to test their appetite for these new commercial contracts.

Our project partner, Impact Research, gathered and collated a segmented database from our customer data systems then cleansed and enriched the data to provide a holistic and meaningful view of the trial area customers. We then issued a bespoke mailing, containing a leaflet and video, to all 1,200 customers. A total of 180 questionnaires were completed by I&C customers from 12 July to 10 August 2012 either through online self completion or by telephone interview.

The research explored various elements of the contract including: the maximum number of managed interruptions per year; the maximum cumulative interruption duration per year; the payment method; the length of contract; the number of safeguarded days and various levels of payment. Key findings from our research showed:

• Many I&C customers found the C₂C concept appealing and 31% stated they would recommend their organisation consider a C₂C contract
• Contracts need to be carefully tailored to the needs of individual customers, with a range of customisable contract elements offered to make them as attractive as possible
• An increase in financial reward was found to outweigh all other factors, particularly the inconvenience of longer durations.