The brief

What the client needed

In 2014 UKPN asked Ashridge Group to undertake a critical project on their behalf. The Health & Safety Executive had issued them with a notice to remove faulty meters from over 24,000 residential and commercial properties in their network area across London, East Anglia and the South. The faulty meters had caused several incidents including a couple of residential fires and their removal was urgently required to avoid further threat to property and life.

A large-scale project of this kind had never been carried out before and UKPN wanted us to work with them to plan, implement and manage the process.

Our response

What we did

Our first job was to liaise with the main energy providers to establish the existence and location of the faulty meters. Collecting and corroborating information for over 24,000 addresses was no easy task – customer data was old and often incomplete and some premises no longer existed.

We then sent out a team of agents to the properties to encourage occupants to make an appointment to have their meter removed or replaced. Our agents often had to make multiple visits in order to speak with the occupant and we continued to work with the utility companies to update the address list and verify successful visits.

Outcome

What changed

Speed was an important aspect of the project as the faulty meters needed to be removed as soon as possible. After each home visit, our agents on the ground immediately compiled a report and sent it via Smart device direct to Ashridge Group HQ, where a team of specially recruited admin staff collated and shared the data with key stakeholders.

Our agents visited a total of 24,150 properties during the eight-month project. Only 1.97% of addresses were transitioned to warrant – all of which were successful.

At the completion of the project UKPN were able to report a 100% success rate to HSE.

We have continued to be a key supplier to UKPN since 2014.

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