People’s Champion finalist 2018: Tonik Energy

Start-up name: Tonik Energy
Founders: Chris Russell, Simon Perkins, and Jim Hayward
Started in: August 2016
Based in: Birmingham
Business description: Renewable energy, gas and electricity supplier

Shortlisted category:

Best Place to Work

The Tonik Energy story:

Founded in 2016 by Chris Russell, Simon Perkins, and Jim Hayward, Tonik Energy is the renewable energy company that has already helped its members save over 50,000 tonnes of carbon – the equivalent of “driving a family car round the earth 3,185 times”.

And in response to requests from its members, Tonik also provides a green gas alternative.

Its ‘greenest’ tariff contains 10% green gas and offsets the remaining 90% of the carbon emissions from each member’s gas use. This carbon offset scheme supports the Kasigau Corridor REDD Project and regeneration of forestry and wildlife in South East Kenya.

Tonik doesn’t like to call the 90,000 people who use its service customers – it calls them members. That’s because it sees them as belonging to a movement – a movement that’s aiming to halve their energy bills by 2022 and build the “home of the future”.

This involves helping members invest in cleantech technologies such as solar panels, battery storage and EV charging points. These technologies allow households to generate and store energy and sell that energy back to each other and the grid at times of high demand. It thinks of this community as ‘The Tonik Power Plant’ – the UK’s newest and greenest power station.

The EV tariff was launched to support the increasing uptake of electric vehicles, giving people the chance to power both their homes and vehicles with 100% renewable energy. And because these new technologies will be integral to its ambitions, Tonik invests 25% of its annual revenue into innovation.

It would appear members are happy: 15% of all new sales come from existing members recommending their friends and family.

But it’s not just members who are treated well: Tonik recognises that “if people love where they work, then they are happier, and happier people mean happier members”.

To this end it provides all its Member Service Agents with laptops to enable home working so they can achieve great work-life balance.

Why Tonik Energy made our shortlist:

A lot of businesses like to claim they are customer-centric, but it’s clear that Tonik is the real deal when it comes to looking after its members.

Just as importantly, it recognises that the best way to ensure those members are getting a quality service is if it also has the interests of its employees at heart as well.

Where to find out more about Tonik Energy:

Website: www.tonikenergy.com
Twitter: @tonikenergy