One of the largest Plumtree portals in Europe

Centrica is a FTSE 100 leading provider of energy & other essential home services, with dominant UK brands British Gas and, until recently, the Automobile Association, One.Tel and Goldfish credit card. The company also has significant global interests in the North American energy market and in Continental Europe.

The challenge

Centrica had grown aggressively by acquisition with a strategy of delivering customer essentials in both the home and on the road. This diverse portfolio of brands included British Gas, the Automobile Association, the Goldfish Credit Card and OneTel Telecommunications. However, the company had more than 50 different intranets and no single place where everyone would go. This contibuted to an overall culture where employees expressed a stronger affinity for their own brand or business than they had for the company as a whole.

The role of our people 

David Viney, our Principal Consultant, helped to bring together a group of key stakeholders and develop a shared vision for what an intranet could achieve in Centrica. The next step was to build a detailed business case (with challange from - and presentation to - key decision makers, up to and including board level). After this, a supplier and product selection process was run to select delivery partners. Finally, David helped steer the project through to successful, on-time and on-budget delivery.

The results

The Centrica portal project was the first project in the Company to truly touch everyone, from the CEO to the coffee shop. In the first eWorking wave, value of over £4 million was generated and further benefits are expected as collaborative working, management efficiency and process simplifications are extended.

"David helped us deliver a new worldwide corporate portal at Centrica (for British Gas, theAA, Goldfish and OneTel). He brought together key stakeholders, developed a shared vision and mobilised the project. David has tremendous energy and enthusiasm for e-business and I can thoroughly recommend his services to others".

Adrian Polisano
IS Director, Corporate Functions at Centrica (1998-2006)