Strength in partnerships: Paul Usher discusses how Quorum is supporting Flexitricity in developing a unique energy supply offering

Success will be defined by a thousand small things

“We’re going to shake up how the National Grid is balanced”. That was the cry from Flexitricity that piqued the attention of the industry when the company announced that it was to become an energy supplier. It’s a watershed moment, and who wouldn’t want to be part of that!

At Quorum we’ve played a key part in keeping National Grid in balance and helping our customers to benefit from their efforts in the Balancing Mechanism (BM) since 2002. So, when the call came from Flexitricity offering us the opportunity to be part of the team delivering the infrastructure for their supply business, we jumped at the chance. We provide BM trading and control point systems, among others, and we’ve been doing it as long as there has been a BM. In fact, we had a hand in the design and production of the first BM systems!

The projects we have been involved in over the years have varied in scale and complexity, and while they share common characteristics, each one has been unique. That’s why our skills have developed beyond code. Yes, we are a software company, but we see ourselves as more of a service provider. It’s a given that our customers should have confidence in our product. The real value we deliver is in the work we do with them to embed our software in their processes, to deliver enhancements to their businesses, making them more efficient, and more profitable.

You can imagine how the opportunity to get involved in a ground-breaking project like this one fired the imagination of the Quorum team. Not only would we be working with an innovative new customer, we’d also get to work alongside other providers selected by Flexitricity to build a team with complementary skills and experience. The beauty of this project is that each company has its own specialism, a deep understanding of their area and the vision to see how that can be translated into a new business model. It’s a cliché, but the whole really will be more than the sum of the parts.

Flexitricity’s vision is clear, and there is no deficit when it comes to paying attention to the detail. Everyone involved in this process shares an understanding that success will be defined by a thousand small things. We all know our roles and the boundaries that must be bridged to make the solution function as a whole. Over the coming months we will be engaged actively with the team at Flexitricity, and the other providers, in the delivery of a range of technologies that will underpin an entirely new way of tackling the imperative of keeping our electricity system in balance, benefiting everyone who uses it. This project will deliver a solution capable of collecting, processing and managing the vast amounts of data needed to inform decision making and tactics, handle interactions with both National Grid and Elexon, ensure compliance with the applicable industry codes and regulations and ensure that the consumption and balancing actions of each customer are recorded, reported and billed with the utmost accuracy.

There are sure to be challenges along the way, but by appointing Quorum, and the other providers it has selected, Flexitricity has designed quality into the process. And, as is the case with building anything that will endure, establishing a firm foundation is the essential first step.

Guest post by Paul Usher, Business Development Director at Quorum