Energy giants poach Dixons chief to lead their £3bn joint venture

THE energy supply giant to emerge from the Sse-npower tie-up will be spearheaded by the chief executive behind the high street mega-merger of Dixons and Carphone Warehouse.

The “big six” energy suppliers have poached Katie Bickerstaffe from the electrical retailer amid an exodus of top talent from Dixons Carphone, to lead the £3bn energy supplier, which is expected to begin trading early next year.

Ms Bickerstaffe, the boss of Dixons Carphone’s UK and Ireland business, will take up the post later this year. She is the first to be appointed to the board of the new venture between Npower and SSE’S retail spin-off that will supply around 11.5 million homes across the UK. She is also the first female chief executive of a major household energy supplier in the UK. The new company will be Britain’s largest electricity supplier, second only to British Gas as the country’s largest household gas supplier, at a time of rising political pressures facing utility companies.

Alistair Phillips-davies, the chief executive of SSE, said Ms Bickerstaffe brings “enormous capacity to unlock the great potential that exists in combining the experience and insight of two established players with the agility of a new, independent company”.

She joined Dixons in 2008 and took a seat on its board in 2012 before becoming chief executive for the UK and Ireland business in 2015. Her previous retail experience has included stints at Kwik Save, Somerfield, Dyson, Pepsico, Unilever and on the board of SSE.

Mr Phillips-davies said the role as non-executive director of the FTSE 100 energy company has provided an “excellent insight into the challenges of the retail energy market”.

Ms Bickerstaffe is expected to take the reins as the Government moves ahead with legislation to cap standard energy tariffs to tackle fears that customers who fail to switch to a cheaper deal are being overcharged.

The move is likely to wipe almost £1bn in profits from the household energy market and has already dragged the share price of British Gas owner Centrica to a 14-year low.

Meanwhile, the big six energy suppliers continue to lose customers as new entrants eat into their market.

The Sse-npower merger is yet to receive the go-ahead from the Competition and Markets Authority but hopes to move ahead in the final quarter of this year or the first quarter of 2019.