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Morag Cuddeford Jones meets Simon Waugh, global marketing director of utilities-based group, Centrica, who likes to take the customer's viewpoint and reveals that his only ambition is service with a smile
Centrica's Simon Waugh doesn't like promotion. That is to say, recent news of his promotion from deputy manager British Gas and group marketing director of parent utilities group Centrica, to global marketing director including responsibility for North America doesn't strike him as a promotion.
"I'd rather call it a change and development of my role rather than a promotion, because once you're on this floorGCa" he tails off as he looks around his office on the executive floor of Centrica's Windsor headquarters. He won't want to draw too big a comparison with his status and surroundings though. At only two floors up, it's less corporate crows' nest, more bird table. It is the top floor though, which is significant.
His latest 'development' means that Waugh now oversees all of Centrica's companies, which were jointly responsible for pound 10bn turnover and pound 932m operating profit in 2002. Additions to his remit include responsibility for customer sales and service worldwide including Centrica's energy operations in Canada and the US. He remains ultimately responsible for the marketing of all of Centrica's brands, including its four core companies: The AA, Goldfish credit cards, One.Tel telecoms and British Gas. Reporting to group CEO, Sir Roy Gardner, Waugh's marketing title seems woefully inadequate, but he believes the contrary. He claims that only now is he fulfilling the role of marketing to its truest extent.
"Marketing was only one part of the customer experience. Now that I'm responsible for all customer sales and service functions, everything that influences the customer view of the brand sits with me and my team. I think that's hugely exciting," he says. "That's what I would truly define as marketing."
His colleagues at Centrica's group companies firmly believe they've got the right man for the job. "Simon's passion for customers and an ability to put people at ease give him the authority to challenge traditional approaches," claims British Gas marketing director Nick Smith. The AA's group marketing director Clare Salmon adds: "His sharp intellect means that he has a different way of looking...