Gas Networks Ireland’s commitment to going above and beyond for consumers is yielding tangible results for the organisation and its customers. In 2024, the company achieved a 94 per cent overall customer satisfaction score, with complaints down by 31 per cent compared to 2023.
That enviable rating is built on a culture of listening, learning and consistent delivery, according to Gas Networks Ireland head of customer and communications Kate Gannon. “Our customer-centric culture is inherent in everything that we do,” she says. “We are in a very fortunate but challenging position. Our customer satisfaction scores are considered best in class in the utilities sector, but we have to continue to maintain and improve them.”
Those customers range from single-person households to large energy using pharmaceutical plants and cement factories. “We have over 720,000 customers in 23 counties in the Republic of Ireland. Every household and business connected to the gas network is a customer of ours,” says Gannon. “We make sure the gas supply gets to where it is needed and to those who need it, safely and reliably, 365 days a year.”
Delivering excellent service
An acknowledgment of this consistent customer service over the years came in June when Gas Networks Ireland claimed the best customer experience and communication award at the Chambers Ireland InBusiness Recognition Awards 2025.
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“We were thrilled to win that award,” says Gannon. “It is testament to the dedication, commitment and empathy shown by our people every day. Our commitment to putting our customers first is at the heart of everything we do. Everyone here wants to deliver a service that truly makes a difference. That’s what really sets us apart.”
To recognise the people who go the extra mile every day, Gas Networks Ireland runs its Above and Beyond recognition programme. The initiative celebrates employees and business partners who consistently exceed expectations in delivering outstanding customer service. By sharing real success stories from across the organisation, it highlights those who actively seek out opportunities to create excellent customer experiences.
“Very importantly, it includes our service-delivery partners Murphys, GMC, W5, CPM and Fexco, who support in our offices, contact centre and operations in the field, as well as our own employees,” says Gannon. “Every quarter we ask people to tell their stories and acknowledge colleagues for their exceptional service to customers.”
These stories are celebrated at breakfast meetings, in Dublin and Cork, attended by senior leaders to reinforce the customer-centric culture and give positive feedback. “We hold them at breakfast time because most of the people involved are out on the roads in vans supporting our customers all day.”
Out in the field
The nature of the service provided varies, Gannon explains: “Sometimes it’s just a case that a customer is not aware of the next steps to take in a particular process. Our people out in the field frequently take the time to explain what comes next, flag that a customer may be vulnerable or make a phone call on a customer’s behalf to ensure they continue to have a safe and secure supply and a warm home.”
In other cases, it can be more technical. “We are very proud of the fact that we have one of the most modern gas networks in Europe and supply interruptions are extremely rare. Even Storm Éowyn didn’t cause a single outage in gas supply. However, one of our customers with two young children faced the prospect of being without heat during the cold snap immediately after the storm because a contractor had let her down during a renovation project at her home. She reached out to us in distress and our crew responded immediately, made some calls and found a workaround to ensure the connection was maintained. We are exceptionally lucky to have such dedicated and caring people working for us.”
The customer wrote to express her gratitude: “This was such a relief and helped take the stress out of a managing a larger project. You hear a lot of negative reviews of utilities and services. Their customer service and genuine care is a testament to them.”
Proactive engagement
The organisation is committed to continuously improving on that already high standard of service, Gannon points out. “We want to ensure we maintain and continue to improve our level of service. Customers are at the heart of everything we do, and listening to customers is at the centre of that and helps us drive improvements.
“We proactively reach out to our customers and through our Insights into Action programme we collect and analyse feedback across all touchpoints – from contact-centre calls and field visits to digital interactions – and use this data to inform continuous improvement and ensure we consistently deliver an excellent customer experience. This strategy has driven over a 60 per cent increase in our net promoter score since its inception in 2014 and has shaped tangible service enhancements across the business.”
Engagement extends beyond direct customers and includes service-delivery partners, companies using biomethane as a fuel to decarbonise their fleets, and retrofitting service providers.
“A lot of our customers are retrofitting properties to improve warmth and energy efficiency in their homes and businesses,” Gannon notes. “They often need to move their meter as part of that and that’s where we come in. We saw this as a good time to review the efficiency of our internal processes, as well as an opportunity to improve our service to retrofitting contractors.”
By bringing together a cross-functional team and consulting with stakeholders to map out what the ideal service would look like, Gas Networks Ireland identified and implemented 16 service improvements which have strengthened the relationship with the retrofitting companies and improved the experience for customers.
Supporting varied needs
Support for vulnerable customers is a key aspect of the Gas Networks Ireland customer experience proposition. “We launched our dedicated Age Friendly Helpline (1800 628 427) last year,” says Gannon. “This is delivered in partnership with Fexco and Age Friendly Ireland.
“Our customer-service representatives on the line receive specialist training to provide respectful, compassionate support to customers aged 66 and over. We constantly strive to enhance accessibility supports and proactively partner with organisations like Age Friendly Ireland and Age Action Ireland and the Irish Deaf Society. We also meet regularly with St Vincent de Paul and the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) to discuss the needs of vulnerable customer needs. Through our Innovation Fund we are also looking at ways to better serve the deaf community.”
At the other end of the customer spectrum, Gannon established a new customer solutions team as part of her department in 2024 to provide a key support to the largest gas customers on the network, who all have strong ambitions to decarbonise and will need renewable gas as part of their net zero energy mix. The team engages strategically with large gas users in high heat industries and hard-to-abate sectors such as food and beverage, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing, to understand their current needs, provide advice and information on how the network will move to renewable gases, and support them in their decarbonisation journeys.
“These industries can be difficult to electrify,” she notes. “They need the firepower of gas molecules to generate the very high heat they require for their processes. We have our own plans to decarbonise our network by using biomethane in the short term and green hydrogen in the longer term. Our large energy customers are going to need increasing proportions of renewable gases as they decarbonise, and we are engaging with them on that as well as supporting them in updating their regulatory and emissions reporting to include renewable gases in their energy mix.
“It is very important that these companies, who are large employers and contribute so much to the State, can see a pathway to decarbonisation here in Ireland.”
