TXU reins in door-to-door strategy as part of sales operation overhaul

TXU Europe has scrapped nationwide door-to-door sales. The US-owned gas and electricity company is retreating from areas outside its core territories in East Anglia and the North-west – the only two regions in which it will continue door-to-door sales.

TXU employs about 200 door-to-door sales staff. It refused to say how many would be affected by the changes.

Earlier in the year, a Commons Public Accounts Committee report said about 60 per cent of people who change supplier do so as a result of doorstep selling. TXU Europe has 5.5 million customers.

A TXU spokesman says: “We have had a restructure of our sales operations and are looking again at our door-to-door selling. The company will exploit other market channels for selling gas and electricity to new customers and no redundancies are planned at the moment.”

He declined to discuss any details on the new market channels. However, TXU Europe is testing an affinity partnership with Tesco stores that involves setting up kiosks in some of Tesco’s stores to sell gas and electricity. The trial has yet to be rolled out nationally.

Last year, the energy retailer ditched its Norweb Energi and Eastern Energy brands and integrated the two businesses under the brand TXU Energi.

The new national consumer brand was unveiled in a national television and press campaign, created by TXU’s agency Roose & Partners. Media was through MediaCom (MW August 16).