British Gas has a regulatory obligation to provide free and discounted energy efficiency products, services and advice worth about £40 million to those living in “fuel poverty”.

Households in fuel poverty are defined in the UK as those spending more than 10% of their income on keeping warm. In November 2002 British Gas launched Here to Help, a scheme that would turn this obligation into a business opportunity.

With this initiative British Gas had several objectives: to cement its position as a leader in the energy efficiency market; to minimise the cost of delivering its obligation; to increase consumer and employee perceptions of British Gas as a socially responsible company; to provide a platform for a cause related marketing campaign; and to demonstrate the company’s stated core value of “doing the right thing”.

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