How Utility Warehouse Partners inspired local communities with ‘Feet on the Street’ weekend

Partners across the country took part in bank holiday activities to spread the word about Utility Warehouse’s home services and Partner opportunity.

May’s second bank holiday weekend provided the perfect opportunity for home service provider Utility Warehouse (UW) to host its first Feet on the Street (FOTS) event. This get-together encouraged UW’s Authorised Partners (independent distributors) to hit the streets with community activities that:

• Promote UW’s Partner opportunity
• Spread the word about UW’s great value utility bundles
• Encourage Partners to spend time with prospects old and new
• Clean up local communities to make them nicer places to live.

To achieve this, UW Partners sprang into action with three new initiatives: a £20k Giveaway, the latest round of Neighbour Letters, and a Big Purple Clean Up.

1) £20k Giveaway

Many people have heard of UW’s ‘Win a MINI’ competition, which has always been a great way for Partners to meet new prospects and potential customers. Of course, the pandemic put a stop to this competition. But now UW has relaunched the comp, the FTSE 250 company has decided to offer a new giveaway instead – the chance to win £20,000. UW listened to company feedback and concluded that a huge cash giveaway is the best prize entrants could receive in the post-pandemic world.

Over the bank holiday weekend, Partners didn’t waste time getting their £20k Giveaway stands set up. And, to help Partners out, UW offered 50% off stall fees at select locations.

“We had a great £20k Giveaway event,” says Partner Caroline Linnell. “15 personal appointments made and some to call back when the timing is better. Lots of other appointments made by other colleagues, too.”

2) Neighbour Letters

UW also encouraged Partners to get back out there with Neighbour Letters now the government has rolled back many COVID-19 restrictions. These simple but effective flyers explain how UW can help people cut costs on their utility bills. Partners can print and post these letters through neighbours’ doors and return a few days later to follow up. Many neighbours then book appointments to discuss the cost savings and benefits UW offers.

As UW has just launched brand-new broadband offers, now is the ideal time to post Neighbour Letters and spread the word. At just £20 per month, lots of people are already keen to take UW up on its new broadband offers. In particular, many eligible customers have signed up for UW’s Fibre to the Premises (FttP) deal, which allows households to enjoy the ultimate in speed, performance, and reliability when it comes to broadband. Households receive this broadband through fibre-optic cables, which directly supply properties. Meanwhile, the older generation of broadband, Fibre to the Cabinet (FttC), only offers fibre-optic cabling to the street.

To put the benefits of FttP into perspective, customers using this broadband can download television shows in under 15 seconds and make the most of multi-device streaming. This upgrade is ideal for people who work remotely, stream films, enjoy gaming, or use the Wi-Fi for several other reasons. Plus, FttP is accessible to all providers, so eligible UW customers don’t need to worry about switching.

Customers who combine the FttP deal with at least one other home service can also rent discounted Amazon eeros through UW. eeros help customers get the best possible Wi-Fi signal in their homes.

3) Big Purple Clean Up

UW Partners across the country also took to the streets for the Big Purple Clean Up over the bank holiday weekend. As true community heroes, these Partners have collected rubbish from their local areas to keep towns and cities clean.

Sadly, when people rediscovered freedom at parks, beaches, and streets in April, many left their rubbish behind. So, one UW Partner, Celia Gadd, began a litter-picking initiative in her local community. Since Celia started this initiative, many other Partners have set to work collecting litter in their local areas, too.

“We’re a community-focussed group, and when I saw the images of my local beach/park covered in rubbish as lockdown lifted, I wanted to do something to help make things right,” says Celia. “So, I set a little challenge amongst my colleagues and friends, and we started litter picking. We told the wider network – 45,000 Partners across the UK – and it took off from there.”

UW loved this idea and provided biodegradable refuse sacks for groups of Partners to collect litter over the bank holiday weekend. These Partners are proud to have instilled a sense of local pride in their communities. The Partners also used this initiative as a great way to reintroduce themselves after a year without seeing fellow Partners face to face.

“This is exactly what the spirit of UW is about,” says CEO Andrew Lindsay. “We believe in the power of people, and there are Partners up and down the UK doing brilliant things in their local communities – and this is just another example of how selfless they are. This was a completely Partner-led idea – we’ve just helped them out with some purple refuse sacks and some bee-friendly seeds. We’re so proud of everyone who’s out there picking up litter and showing pride in their local communities.”

Feet on the Street feedback from UW Partners

UW Partners shared their bank holiday weekend efforts on the UW Partner Facebook group, using two ‘UW Feet on the Street’ profile picture filters and the #UWfots hashtag. This was a great way to raise morale and share Partner successes.

Here’s what some Partners had to say about the Feet on the Street weekend.

“Like many others, I struggled during lockdown… so, when this campaign was announced, I decided it was the nudge I needed,” says Debbie Harrington. “It’s been a fantastic weekend, lots of appointments booked, plus great to see some of the team and cross team pals. Just what we all needed.”

“Lots of team bonding, loads of laughs, thousands of steps, and a huge impact on our local environment!” says Hannah Grover. “So many people stopped and asked us where we were from and thanked us for our work. It was brilliant to position our business in a really positive light! Doing what is right, not what is easy!”

“The best thing about going out and doing activity is the law of attraction suddenly starts working in your favour,” says Clare Barnett. “Whilst out, I received a random text from a customer with a referral to someone I went to school with (who wasn’t even on my list) and booked a face-to-face appointment with them next week. This wasn’t a one off or a fluke. It happens to me all the time when I go out and actively work on my business.”

“Absolutely EPIC day getting out there again after a hiatus that’s been far too long,” says Simon Yogi Hodges. “Fantastic to get appointments in the diary and also meeting existing happy UW customers.”

“One shopkeeper was so lovely and grateful for us picking litter up around her shop she gave us a bag of sweets each. How lovely was that!” says Christine Makasi. “We had our clipboards with the £20k event too and asked people as we went along.”

“Had a fantastic time with some of Team WOW litter picking in Ashford, Kent,” says Welly Bailey. “It was a great way to meet local people and show them what we, as UW, are doing for The UW Foundation!”

As the government continues to roll back restrictions over the coming weeks, Partners look forward to developing these initiatives and activities beyond the long weekend.

Becoming a UW Partner

UW’s Partners earn residual income for signing up customers – much like music artists earning royalties. Partners earn up to £370 per customer sign up – and more again when they establish their own Partner teams. To recruit customers, Partners share an appointment presentation to let prospective customers know how UW can help them cut costs on their utility bills. They explain the benefits of UW’s services, green initiatives, and cashback cards, all of which lead to great savings.

Additional UW Partner incentives

Partners set their own hours, run their own schedules, and work wherever they want. They get to meet (and sometimes onboard) like-minded Partners, which is a great way to network and make friends. Some Partners even use the opportunity as a springboard to launch their own businesses. This is a great option as the UW Partner opportunity doesn’t come with the usual costs of starting your own business. New Partners can register for £50 – or £10 if they’re already a UW customer.

When Partners reach sign-up milestones, UW treats them to Mindful Chef food boxes, seasonal hampers, experience days, subsidised car leases, electric bikes, and weekend getaways. Partners also have access to virtual wellness sessions, which UW encourages to ensure Partners take regular breaks and focus on themselves.

Meanwhile, Partners also partake in UW’s charitable missions. For example, in spring, many Partners joined in with UW’s ‘walk around the world in 28 days’ challenge to raise money for Domestic Violence UK.

Generating an additional income stream

UW’s Partner opportunity has helped numerous people get back on their feet and generate new income streams during the pandemic. This has been incredibly helpful for those who’ve faced job losses and/or income cuts over the past year.

UW Partners come from all walks of life. While some are teachers, doctors, and nurses, others work in retail, hospitality, finance, beauty, and performing arts. Some are students, some are unemployed, some are self-employed, and some have retired from their day jobs. Each Partner has their own reason to earn an additional income stream. Some are building nest eggs for their futures. Some are saving to pay off debts. And others have their eyes on dream holidays.

Thanks to the success of the Partner network, UW doesn’t need to spend anything on television or radio advertising. Instead, word-of-mouth recommendations have built UW’s customer base of 650,000 people.

Find out more about how being a UW Partner works.

About Utility Warehouse

The more home services UW customers bundle, the more savings they make. These customers can combine energy, mobile, broadband, landline, home insurance, and/or boiler care services to complete their package – and only ever need to access one account for their home services.

UW cashback card

Customers can also order a free UW cashback card, which allows them to save up to 7% on their everyday shopping. Customers can use their cashback card when shopping in store and online at dozens of retailers like M&S, Boots, and Sainsbury’s.

UW green initiatives

Cost savings aside, customers can also make the most of UW’s green initiatives, which help customers reduce their carbon emissions. For example, customers can make the most of free smart meter upgrades, and UW plants a tree on behalf of each new customer. Meanwhile, customers who take all UW services receive 100% renewable energy. UW also measures all electricity used by its customers and returns the same amount of renewable energy to the grid. Plus, UW makes donations to the UW Partners’ charity of the year, which is currently Ocean Generation (formerly known as Plastic Oceans UK).

UW awards

Thanks to these green initiatives, last year, CFI.co awarded UW’s parent company (Telecom Plus) the Best Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance Multi-Utility Provider Award. This award complements the many accolades UW has won over the years, including the:

• Uswitch Best Meter Reading Services Award (2021)
• Uswitch Best Incentives/Rewards Award (2021)
• Silver Award in the Responding in a Crisis – Supporting Customers (Utilities, Telecoms, and Technology) category at the European Contact Centre Awards (2020)
• Which? Utilities Brand of the Year Award (2020)
• Uswitch Best Energy Saving Support Award (2020, 2019)
• Moneywise Best Value for Money Award (2019)
• Moneywise Best Customer Service Award (2019)
• Moneywise Best Clarity of Bills Award (2019)
• Moneywise Best Money-Saving Tips and Gadgets Award (2019).

UW is regulated by Ofgem, Ofcom, and the FCA. The company is proud to have maintained a major British success story over the past 20 years, helping customers save on their utilities while helping people from all backgrounds earn additional streams of income.