Becoming more efficient through transforming our operating model and increasingly aligning our processes

Key areas of focus

We have a clear focus on an operating model that encourages collaboration with other business units and ensures continued efficiency gains through common practices and policies. Ensuring the reliability of our system, operating safely, and improving relationships with stakeholders, are our main objectives.

Our aim is to be recognised as an industry leader and help to transform the current traditional utility model into a business that is able to deliver sustained improvements in operating performance.

Transform operations

We are undergoing a major transformation programme that will significantly improve the performance of the business. The impetus for this transformation includes ageing infrastructure, increased customer expectations, changing technology, challenging economic environment and the desire to improve service to our customers and the communities we serve. We are in the deployment and implementation phase of this multi-phase transformation programme that will extend to the year 2012. The focus of the current phase is on implementing our new operating model and organisation structure; designing, testing and implementing new capabilities, processes and systems; and realising targeted benefits. We will enhance our asset management expertise and discipline by utilising the benefits of a common operating model and greater standardisation across the business. Our implementation effort is structured around six core work streams:

• manage the assets – integrated planning and efficient capital allocation;
• customer management – single point of contact for the customer while ensuring end-to-end coordination for all processes that affect the customer;
• contracting strategies – effective management of all contracts and arrangements;
• deliver the work – optimise work coordination to maximise crew efficiency while increasing productive time;
• design – centralised to drive productivity and standards focused on core design and field support activities; and
• operate the network – consolidation of control centres while ensuring standardisation across all regions.

In addition, we have begun to execute an integrated change plan to engage employees and facilitate smooth transitions.

Customer experience

Our business is fundamentally about serving our customers and providing them with a positive customer experience while delivering safe, reliable and efficient energy services to homes, businesses, schools and other customer segments across our service areas.

Our customer transformation efforts are focused on delivering an unparalleled customer experience and providing customers with products and services that help them not only manage their energy use, but to also reduce their impact on the environment. We are collaborating across our business areas to instil a stronger customer focus and to align processes to deliver a National Grid branded customer experience. Our customer transformation initiatives are targeting the following areas:

• customer focused culture – building clear focus and a customer first culture through clear accountability and aligned goals and metrics across our business areas;
• customer experience initiatives – improving processes that directly impact customer satisfaction such as billing, collections, contact centre performance, self service options, outage communications and field service;
• sustainable products and services – delivery of targeted energy efficiency programmes and other energy management solutions that help customers manage their energy use; and
• building our brand – through marketing and integrated communications that reinforce our commitment to the environment and the communities we serve.

Efficiency

Improving the efficiency of our business continues to be one of our key priorities.

Delivering on many of the initiatives developed under our transformation programme is one way we can continue to improve efficiency. Some of the areas where we continue to focus and expand our efficiency efforts include:

• additions – by prioritising and optimising our investment programmes in both distribution and generation;
• materials – by optimising both use and stock levels;
• procurement – through longer term visibility of equipment needs and optimal balance between workload and resources; and
• generation – optimising generation plant performance.

We also continue to make progress on location efficiency with the consolidation and reconfiguration of key locations. With the opening of our new Reservoir Woods office in Waltham, Massachusetts we will bring together people from across the business and from multiple locations. We will work as one integrated team in a new state of the art leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) certified, environmentally friendly office, providing a vibrant work environment.

Efficiency is reflected in our financial performance.

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