VuePoint Solutions – Quietly Building UK ETRM Market Share
It had been a while since we heard from UK-based VuePoint Solutions, but a recent spate of marketing emails prompted me to reach out for an update. I connected with Director of Sales, Andy Bray. We had just posted an announcement regarding Bryt Energy selecting VuePoint Solutions Limited (VPSL) for its Energy Trading and Risk Management Platform (ETRM) after a competitive tender process and Andy was quick to tell me that it was hoping to sign several more in the coming weeks and months and that VuePoint sees itself as the leader in this ETRM space.
Energy Risk VuePoint certainly has some somewhat unique characteristics as an ETRM type solution and as its website states, “VuePoint saw an opportunity to innovate and improve the market by delivering a single data and application hub supporting the whole spectrum of our customers’ energy requirements including: Monitoring of usage, Procurement, Validation of energy bills, Live market prices, Risk management, As well as a whole array of other crucial energy processes.”
With 10-years of investment in the solution, Andy says that the product is the result of significant feedback and advice from its current customers who include the likes of SSE, MoD, Thames Water, Bryt and many more. “The product has developed in partnership with customers to ensure we keep it meeting the needs of our customers. This is typically done at no cost to the customer.” he told me. The solution is ideally suited for large end users that consume significant energy and desire to gain control of those costs, as well as for TPI’s, Consultants, and other energy procurers, suppliers, and traders in the UK. Additionally, Andy is keen to point out that customers remain with VuePoint for years with a 3-5 year contract being continually rolled over. “Additionally, we are genuinely independent, which also helps,” he said. Marketing is done via word of mouth largely and under the radar. Andy is also keen to point out that the solution could be used outside of the UK if customers were interested in developing a more global solution.
The technical platform was built in house and is cloud-enabled. The provided portal website can be branded for different customers as can the reports so that the solution can look like an in-house service for customers. Essentially, it provides market pricing, position management, consumption data, invoice validation and bureau services in a single platform that is ideal for this segment of the power market. The UI is graphic and easy to interact with as well so the solution seems highly usable. Hopefully, we will get a demo of the solution in the near future and gain a deeper understanding of its capabilities.
