British retail group Arcadia has signed a three year flexible contract with Manchester based Gazprom Energy for the supply and management of gas to 73 of its UK stores. The deal marks the retail giant’s first use of flexible gas buying as part of its revised energy strategy, after previously adopting fixed contracts.
The owner of brands including Topshop and Miss Selfridge will also have access to Gazprom Energy’s new strategic energy management platform – InSight, enabling the team to monitor the market, helping them to trade according to market prices and price signals. Arcadia selected Gazprom Energy following a contract re-tender due to its extensive knowledge of the market, client service and proven efficient management of business energy portfolios.
The shift in contract type comes after Arcadia spent several years creating a new energy strategy plan, through which it has brought energy procurement in-house rather than outsourcing it to third parties. This has provided it with more control and understanding of how its resources are being used.
Dean Laurent, purchasing controller, Arcadia, comments: “Since we have a large number of sites across the UK all with different energy needs, we have a complex energy management task on our hands and it’s crucial that our gas supplier is flexible in meeting our individual requirements. Gazprom Energy allows us to understand our gas consumption while giving us the ability to monitor the market to ensure we’re getting the best possible deal, the InSight platform is very easy to navigate round and provides us with a clear visibility of the market position.”
Katie Smith, Arcadia’s Account Manager at Gazprom Energy concludes: “Our experience of working with multi-site retailers has given us a deep understanding of how complex their energy portfolio can be to manage. Providing Arcadia with a competitive flexible gas contract and real time market access via InSight, enables Arcadia to understand underlying market fundamentals and furthermore, allows for the adoption of a hedging strategy which assists in minimising their risk.”
