Member Article

Sunderland based Troo strengthens senior management team following £500,000 investment

Sunderland based Troo, a game-changing energy broker that helps businesses reduce bills, has made three senior appointments following £500,000 in funding from the North East Venture Fund (NEVF) supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Mercia.

Peter McLeod, Peter Bradley and Zoe Watson bring a wealth of experience and add breadth and depth to the senior management team, joining founder and CEO Andrew Richardson, commercial director Rachel Richardson, operations director Steve Goldsmith and chairman Malcolm Smith.

Sales and marketing director, Peter McLeod, joins from Total Energies, a global supplier of gas and electricity to businesses and the public sector, where he worked for 8 years. During this time, Peter led global transformation projects for Total, overseeing sales, marketing and customer service functions and supporting hundreds of thousands of SME customers and partners. Prior to his time at Total, Peter was head of business development at O2UK.

Speaking about his new role, Peter McLeod said; “I have known Andrew for a number of years and have always admired his principles and ambition. We share a similar ethos and I was attracted by the opportunity to work alongside Andrew and the senior team at an exciting time in Troo’s evolution. We are all aligned around the same vision - to disrupt the energy industry through a fairer and more transparent model for businesses, that puts the customer front and centre.

“For too long, especially for business customers, the energy industry has been deliberately complex and opaque, with little support offered after the initial contract is signed. Energy is a huge overhead for many businesses, yet it is usually a transactional relationship between broker, supplier and customer. Troo is changing that. We broker deals from a range of suppliers - not a small monopoly - and we support our customers of all sizes through the entire life of the commercial contract, ensuring we present the best value options and helping them through difficult times when they need support, whether that’s billing or things like meter switchovers.”

Troo’s approach to business energy is proving popular with customers from SMEs to PLCs in both the public and private sectors, and the team has doubled turnover each year for the past two. It has already attracting £1.5million of investment to realise it’s goal and currently employs 50 members of staff with plans to double that in the next 12 months.

Zoe Watson joins as Head of Marketing. Having worked both agency side, as Head of Promotional Marketing at a leading London agency, as well as in house for a national construction company, she has a wealth of brand-building experience spanning a 15 year career. In her new role Zoe will work alongside Peter to review the brand and content strategy, with a view to raising awareness and supporting Troo’s ambitious growth plans.

Completing the trio is Peter Bradley, who joins as head of customer experience. With nearly a decade in customer relations at a number of national energy brokerages, Peter will oversee Troo’s growing customer service team, ensuring a continued focus on exceptional customer service through a process-lead approach.

Andrew Richardson is CEO of Troo. Commenting on the new appointments, he said: “Each of our new team members brings with them considerable experience in their field. Most importantly, they are all aligned around our bold ambitions to continue to disrupt the energy market and do what is fair and right for our customers.

“Through our shared vision, as well as with the support of our professional advisors and investors, I truly believe we are on the cusp of enacting real change in the market. Rising energy prices and turbulent world events have put a huge strain on many businesses and I believe our growth has been the result of our continued support for customers during these difficult times.

“We are not here to make a quick buck, we are here to do the right thing in an honest and transparent way and our clients recognise and appreciate that. With our new team adding to our existing expertise, I am confident we can help more businesses enjoy a better experience when it comes to energy supply.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Rachel McBryde .