Challenge

ENGIE, a global energy leader, is dedicated to providing low-carbon energy solutions while supplying gas and electric energy to organisations of all sizes in the UK. In 2014, ENGIE strategically acquired Balfour Beatty Workplace, gaining substantial back-office resources. With ambitious growth plans, the ENGIE board envisioned a multifunctional Shared Service Centre to streamline support functions, standardize business processes, and enhance operational efficiency.

Solution

We spearheaded the establishment and leadership of a new Shared Service Centre in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, managing a team of 500 professionals delivering Finance, IT, Procurement, HR, and Customer Contact services to 17,000 employees across clients with a combined turnover of £3.3 billion. The initiative resulted in immediate cost savings of 20% and a three-year payback on the initial investment. The centre has been recognised within ENGIE as a model of best practice for efficiency and customer service culture, achieving Investors in People accreditation and the highest employee engagement scores in the organisation.

We successfully recruited and trained a new team, migrating services from four locations into a state-of-the-art facility. This included managing the TUPE transfer of staff and transitioning ten legal entities from Oracle systems to SAP.

Key deliverables included establishing service level agreements (SLAs), chargeback mechanisms, and continuous improvement plans across multiple service lines:

• Employee Services: Payroll, Onboarding, Compliance, Contract Administration, Benefits & Wellbeing

• Accounting Services: General Accounting, Management Accounts, Financial Reporting, Treasury

• Transactional Services: Procurement Administration, Staff Expenses, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable

• IT Services: IT Service Desk, Access Management

• Customer Services: Contact Centre operations, 24/7 FM Operations Helpdesk

• Performance Development & Improvement: Management Information, Business Improvement

Results

• Employee Engagement: Increased from 69% to 90%, achieving the highest level of engagement within ENGIE UK.

• Customer Satisfaction: Improved from 61% to 90%, making ENGIE UK the only Shared Service Centre in the UK accredited by the Institute of Customer Service.

• Transaction Costs: Achieved an average 12% year-on-year reduction, placing over 70% of transaction costs within the upper quartile of Hackett Group's global benchmarks.

• Accounting: Successfully completed year-end closes for 65 legal entities, reducing month-end close from 6 to 3 days, with 15 consecutive clean external and internal audits.

• Payroll: Increased accuracy from 96.5% to 99.9%, with out-of-cycle payments reduced from 4-5% to <0.5%, and costs per payslip decreased from £5.00 to £2.40.

• HR Administration: Increased contracts processed within 5 days from 60% to 95%, and reduced cost per contract from £22 to £10.

• Accounts Payable: Automated processing of 350,000 paper invoices annually, reducing WIP cash flow cycle by 10 days, increasing supplier invoice payments to terms from 12% to 80%, and cutting costs per invoice from £4.68 to £2.65.

• Accounts Receivable: Reduced Days Sales Outstanding from 65 to 54, average unallocated cash per day from £0.8m to <£0.1m, and credit notes from 15% to <3%. Implemented new credit control policies across the UK.

• IT Services: Designed and launched a 24/7 IT support service, improving first-time resolution rates from 10% to over 60%, and reducing wait times from over 10 minutes to under 2 minutes. Introduced a self-service solution for IT users, reducing ticket resolution time from 5 days to 24 hours. Achieved the highest global rating ever awarded by the Service Desk Institute during the initial audit.

• Customer Services: Established a new 100-seat contact centre to support the launch of ENGIE Home Energy in 2016, achieving a 5-star Trust Pilot rating within 26 months.

This case study exemplifies how strategic vision and effective execution can transform operational capabilities, driving significant value and recognition in a competitive industry.