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The UK’s multiservice provider with over one million customers

We are the only multiservice provider in the UK, serving over one million customers under the Utility Warehouse brand. We offer our customers a one-stop shop for their essential services, bundling energy, broadband, mobile and insurance. We offer competitive prices over the long term, and we pride ourselves on genuinely helping our customers to stop wasting time and money on their household bills. 

A track record of growth in all conditions: on track for two million customers

The business has delivered uninterrupted growth in customer numbers for every one of its 25+ years. This has been achieved in a broad spectrum of market and macroeconomic conditions. This is evidence of the continuing strength of our business model, and the sustainable double-digit customer growth and earnings potential ahead. We remain firmly on track to add a further one million customers over the medium term.

Our structural cost advantage

Our unique multiservice customer proposition spans the energy, broadband, mobile and insurance markets and allows our customers to bundle many of their essential household services together with UW. As a result, we receive up to four revenue streams from each of our customers but have just one single back office supporting all the services we provide to them. This gives us an inbuilt and enduring cost advantage that our competitors have been unable to replicate and which we share with our customers year-on-year through lower prices.

Fair pricing and loyal customers

This long-term, fair pricing approach, enhanced by top-rated customer service and the convenience of having one bill, one account, and one app to manage all their household services, builds loyalty amongst our customers to our brand; as a result, our typical homeowning customers display below-market rates of churn and bad debt, further compounding our cost advantage. We have launched our Price Pledge to new customers taking three or more services guaranteeing UW will save them money.

Our unique word of mouth customer acquisition model

The key to acquiring new multiservice customers is our unique and hard-to-replicate word-of-mouth acquisition model. Over many years we have built up a UK-wide community of some 68,000 Partners who are real advocates for our proposition. They overcome the natural inertia that exists to simultaneously switch multiple essential household services by personally explaining to family, friends, work colleagues and acquaintances the convenience of a single UW account for all their household services and the long-term value we offer. This unique approach enables us to successfully grow our multiservice customer base in a way that other customer acquisition strategies cannot replicate. Our Partners are attracted by the opportunity to earn a second income amidst cost of living pressures, the flexible nature of the work and by a mission to help their community through lower everyday bills.

Why invest in Telecom Plus?

Telecom Plus is a unique UK multi-service provider with a purpose: to stop households wasting time and money on essential services. We have partnerships with leading suppliers of energy, broadband, mobile and insurance and a high quality customer base. This leads to a high growth, predictable, capital-light and cash generative business model supporting a clear capital allocation policy of high returns through dividends supplemented by share buybacks.

   1. The UK’s only multi-service provider

We have a unique award-winning customer proposition providing multiple essential services including energy, broadband, mobile and insurance to over 1 million UK customers under the Utility Warehouse brand. This provides consistently larger savings than peers and simplicity through a single bill and point of service. 

   2. Significant growth opportunity

Our ability to offer lower prices than competitors, combined with award-winning customer service, means we are able to achieve sustainable double digit customer growth. We are the leading challenger in our markets and with a c.3% share of the UK energy market, around 1% of the broadband and mobile markets and a nascent position in insurance there is ample opportunity for growth. 

   3. Differentiated route to market

Our business model is based on a unique and hard-to-replicate word of mouth route to market. Our Partners refer UW to their friends, family and personal networks, attracting loyal multi-service homeowner customers that other operators find hard to reach. Customer satisfaction and loyalty gives market-leading customer lifetimes and lower bad debts. Our Partners value the opportunity to earn an additional income, providing a high quality and low cost means of customer acquisition, while fulfilling our social purpose.

   4. Structural cost advantage

We have a structural cost advantage as we have multiple revenue streams but only one set of overheads, unlike our competitors. This allows us to offer the most attractive prices to our multi-service customers, permitting us to be more profitable and reinvest in the business to improve our value for money still further – reinforcing our competitive position and sustaining our superior growth rate.

   5. Capital light business model

We do not own any infrastructure, as we are a [virtual] service provider meaning we do not need significant capital expenditure to grow. We are able to offer high quality services from the best providers, benefiting from 20 year relationships and long term contracts. Our long track record increases supplier and Partner confidence in us. Our model means we differentiate on price, simplicity and service while not taking capacity or technology risk.

   6. Proven financial track record with strong returns

We generate predictable, growing earnings from the supply of essential services. We are highly cash generative due to our capital light model. Over the last ten years our gross profit has grown by 254%, adjusted profit before tax by 162% and dividend per share by 137%. We consistently generate strong returns with a ROCE of above 30%. We pursue a progressive distribution policy with a total pay out of 80-90% of adjusted net income including a dividend rising modestly with inflation and supplemented by share buybacks, with an appropriate level of gearing.

The role that Telecom Plus fulfils in society, our impact on the world around us, and operating with integrity.

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