Octopus has now completed its transfer of all Shell Energy customers to the energy firm and the update means all former Shell Energy customers will now have their gas and electricity supplied by Octopus
Octopus Energy has issued a major update to all 1.3million customers who were being moved over from Shell Energy.
Octopus has now completed its transfer of all Shell Energy customers to the energy firm and the update means all former Shell Energy customers will now have their gas and electricity supplied by Octopus.
Last year, Shell Energy in the UK and Germany, which provides domestic gas, power and broadband services, was bought by Octopus with the deal being completed in December. The company is now longer operating and has essentially closed for good.
At the time, Shell Energy provided domestic gas, power, and broadband services to nearly two million customers – 500,000 of those were broadband. The deal meant that Octopus would have around 6.8million household customers in the UK. It also increased its customer base in Germany to 300,000.
Customers of Shell started to be transferred over the Octopus through the firm’s technology platform Kraken just before Christmas but the main move began on January 30 2024. The energy firm has completed the full transitrion in just two months – this beat its previous record of four months after it acquired collapsed energy firm Bulb’s 1.5million customers.
The energy provider also announced it had offered 6,000 vulnerable Shell customers free electric blankets to help with energy bills over the winter months. Octopus said this would help customers save 20% – or around £150 – on their winter bills.
Greg Jackson, founder of Octopus Energy, commented: “We are thrilled to have completed the transfer of all Shell Energy customers to Octopus Energy, achieving this milestone in record time. Thanks to the effectiveness of Kraken and Octopus’ promise of brilliant customer service, we have seamlessly transitioned customers to our platform while ensuring a smooth and hassle-free experience.”
Alongside this, 500 customer-facing employees at Shell Energy Retail were offered new roles at Octopus Energy, with the majority based at Octopus’ new Coventry office.
Octopus sold the broadband part of Shell Energy retail to TalkTalk earlier this year. The firm said that Shell Energy was already assisted by TalkTalk’s system, so switching to them guaranteed an easy change for all customers involved.
During the move, energy customers’ credit balances should have been protected and automatically moved over to their new account with Octopus, along with existing direct debits. Customers were told to keep paying their direct debits as normal as the move took place. Now that it is complete customers will need to contact solely Octopus about their gas and electricity bills.
