A North East business energy services firm has invested in a new base as it looks to scale up, creating dozens of new jobs.
Energy comparison company Troo has moved from Newcastle to a 10,000 sq ft office at Doxford International Business Park in Sunderland.
The expansion comes two years after the firm was launched by Andrew Richardson, aiming to disrupting the energy brokerage industry while focusing on the business sector.
Mr Richardson plans to double the current workforce of 30 in the next 12 months while also doubling turnover, and expects staffing to rise to around 120 within the next two to three years.
He said: “Our national growth is being driven by business customers who appreciate our transparent approach to fees and our ability to show what they should be paying for energy against what they have been paying.
“More recently, we have been doing well because we’ve helped many of our customers – large and small - through this particularly difficult pandemic year either by securing savings or renegotiating existing arrangements.”
He said the company expected to see continued growth as the business invested in using data better and by offering business customers added value through services and not just fairer prices on their energy.
Troo has seen steady national growth since it was established, and expects to see growth continue, by investing in using data better, with the support of funding through the North East Venture Fund, managed by Mercia Fund Management.
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The last investment of £300,000 helped the company launch a new customer service brand called Troo Assure, which provide customers with advice on issues such as new meter connections, energy savings, interruption of service and compliance issues.
It aims to ensure that users are on the right tariff and automatically gives them the best price at renewal.
Mr Richardson said: “The support from Mercia has been critical to our continued growth and success. The development of Troo Assure is allowing us to offer energy as a service. We provide business customers with a dedicated support team to deal with all their energy needs, from billing queries to energy savings advice.
“This added value we’re able to offer businesses is proving to be very attractive and particularly in this current market when everyone is trying to achieve savings.”
Last year Troo established an alliance with the North East England Chamber of Commerce, becoming the preferred energy supplier to the chamber’s 3,000 members across the region.