We want to have a zero harm safety record
EDF Energy has a clear purpose
Everyone at EDF Energy knows our focus is to lead the change in energy and each of us has a significant role to play in achieving our business goal: to bring affordable, low carbon energy solutions home to everyone.
We are already making progress in achieving this goal, delivering against our six ambitions as a business:
1. Achieve a zero harm record
We believe that all harm is preventable so our aim is zero harm. That means providing workplaces that are safe for all and taking positive action to ensure the public is not harmed by our operations. We have a robust health and safety management system across our business and a clear governance framework in place to manage personal and process safety.
2. Be first choice for customers
We are a customer focused business that strives to provide affordable services that meet all of our customers’ needs. We aim to provide a high quality service for our customers by getting things right first time every time. For more vulnerable customers, including households that have difficulty in covering the cost of fuel, we have been proactive in developing our policies and extra services, and continue to work with the UK government in tackling the root causes of fuel poverty.
3. Lead the way in nuclear power generation
We believe nuclear power has a key role to play in helping to address climate change and in ensuring secure and affordable supplies of energy are sustained in the UK. Our parent company, the EDF Group has unique experience in building and running nuclear power stations as the world's largest nuclear power generator with 58 plants. In early 2009 we acquired British Energy, growing our capacity to build new nuclear power stations in the UK. We have unique experience and understanding of the finances of new nuclear and we are confident that new plants can be built and run safely and economically without subsidy. That includes all the costs associated with construction, operation, decommissioning and waste disposal.
4. Deliver strong financial performance
In 2008 we generated sales of £6,621 million and a profit before tax of £189 million. This is good financial performance resulting from the hard work of our employees, generating and maintaining 5.6 million product accounts including residential customers, small and medium enterprises and major account holders. The profits we make as a business help us to invest in our networks. In 2008 we began a £450 million investment programme, focused on our electricity networks, which is part of an overall projected investment programme of almost £2.1 billion over five years.
5. Be a leader in sustainability
We’re certain that sustainability must be at the heart of any energy company’s long-term strategy. We want to lead the way in tackling the biggest environmental and social issues facing our industry and we’ve clearly defined our agenda through our climate and social commitments. Our targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions represent one of the biggest packages of environmental initiatives launched by any major British company. Our social commitments are a bold set of pledges covering a diverse range of challenges such as affordability, our supply chain, employee development, community investment and more.
6. Maintain a team of high performing people
Our ambition to maintain a team of high performing means we have to actively engage with our employees. We want them to be involved in the business and to feel a shared sense of ownership in it. This means helping them to understand their role in achieving our business strategy, helping them to function as advocates of the business and providing them with the training, development and support to achieve great things, which will lead to EDF Energy’s competitive advantage. Following our employee survey, carried out in 2008, we are improving how we deliver leadership, customer focus, change management, accountability and empowerment across the business.
The way we go about achieving our ambitions is guided by our values:
- We care for each other, making safety our priority
- We strive for excellent performance
- We put social and environmental responsibility at the heart of everything we do
- We act with integrity
- We work as one team, one company – valuing the diversity of other people