Utility Warehouse
Codifying and Activating an award-winning Culture
Background
Utility Warehouse (UW), a UK-based FTSE 250 company offering bundled home services, faced the challenge of rapid growth during the cost-of-living crisis. With an expanding customer base and workforce the company’s historically ‘family-feel’ culture began to show cracks. Employee engagement dropped, with an eNPS score of -11. This decline highlighted the need for a cultural shift, especially as UW set an ambitious goal to reach one million customers in 2024. They needed to adapt its culture to enable a performance-driven mindset while maintaining a sense of belonging for its employees, aligning the business goals with a stronger internal foundation.
Utility Warehouse (UW), a UK-based FTSE 250 company offering bundled home services, faced the challenge of rapid growth during the cost-of-living crisis. With an expanding customer base and workforce the company’s historically ‘family-feel’ culture began to show cracks. Employee engagement dropped, with an eNPS score of -11. This decline highlighted the need for a cultural shift, especially as UW set an ambitious goal to reach one million customers in 2024. They needed to adapt its culture to enable a performance-driven mindset while maintaining a sense of belonging for its employees, aligning the business goals with a stronger internal foundation.
Through this work, UW turned a -11 eNPS into a performance mindset that helped drive 14% annual growth
Approach
UW partnered with us to execute a comprehensive culture transformation. The strategy was built around three key phases. Firstly the company undertook extensive research, including focus groups with employees and interviews with the executive leadership team to assess the current culture and the changes needed.
UW partnered with us to execute a comprehensive culture transformation. The strategy was built around three key phases. Firstly the company undertook extensive research, including focus groups with employees and interviews with the executive leadership team to assess the current culture and the changes needed.
Next the team introduced a new North Star: "We help people stop wasting time and money." This clear, purpose-driven statement, paired with new company values like ‘Daring’ and ‘Spirited’, aimed to energise the workforce and transition into a future-focused, performance-driven culture. Co-creation workshops with leadership and employees ensured that the cultural shift was collaborative, fostering a sense of ownership and advocacy across the business.
Finally, UW executed a bold, guerrilla-style launch to maximise internal impact. A head office car park takeover was designed to make a statement and key resources like a ‘How We Work’ playbook were developed to help employees embody the new values. People leaders were equipped with performance frameworks and goal-setting tools to integrate the new behaviours into their teams. A dedicated event, Elevate, provided leaders with the knowledge and confidence to lead their teams in this cultural shift.
Outcome
UW’s cultural transformation has already produced significant results. By Q4 2023 the company had achieved its goal of signing one million customers, supported by a 14% year-on-year growth rate. Internally the shift to a performance mindset is evident. Post-launch surveys showed that 100% of people leaders understand how this mindset supports growth and feel equipped to guide their teams. Additionally, 73% of employees reported feeling a sense of belonging, while 91% felt trusted to do their jobs effectively. These changes reflect a deeply embedded and sustainable cultural shift that positions UW for continued growth and success.
UW’s cultural transformation has already produced significant results. By Q4 2023 the company had achieved its goal of signing one million customers, supported by a 14% year-on-year growth rate. Internally the shift to a performance mindset is evident. Post-launch surveys showed that 100% of people leaders understand how this mindset supports growth and feel equipped to guide their teams. Additionally, 73% of employees reported feeling a sense of belonging, while 91% felt trusted to do their jobs effectively. These changes reflect a deeply embedded and sustainable cultural shift that positions UW for continued growth and success.
In November 2024, UW and People Made were awarded The Business Culture Award in the Culture Transformation category for the outstanding work. Judges noted:
'Your approach to redefining Utility Warehouse’s culture during a period of rapid growth is impressive, particularly in how you’ve connected the cultural transformation with tangible business outcomes'
'You can sense the energy, creativity, involvement and engagement - this submission encapsulates what we mean when we talk about the importance of transformational culture journeys in the enablement of measurable business results'