RWE replaces top management at UK unit after operations problems

Npower Chief Executive Paul Massara will be replaced by Paul Coffey, who now serves as chief operating officer, effective September 30.

Npower’s German owner RWE took the decision after the UK business lost 300,000 customers in the past year and suffered operating profits by 60% in the first half of the year, but maintained the pair were leaving “on their own wishes and by mutual agreement”. Npower Chief Financial Officer Jens Madrian is also departing, and will be succeeded by Martin Miklas, now CFO at RWE Polska.

“At this time we need a CEO at RWE npower who knows the processes and has a sense for what can be done”, RWE Chief Executive Peter Terium said in a statement.

The poor results were partly blamed on a defective billing system that the company admitted may not be fixed until 2017, with regulator Ofgem having launched an investigation into the failings and expected to issue hefty fines.

The firm said earlier this month that first half profits had fallen 65% to £38 million during a “very tough” period.

German utility RWE named Paul Coffey as the new chief of its British unit npower, hoping to accelerate a turnaround of the business which has emerged as the ailing utility’s latest operational nuisance.

Coffey, 45, has been with RWE since 2003 and joined npower this year from RWE’s renewable unit Innogy, where he also held the position of COO.

“I am looking forward to working with my management team, those already in npower and those joining, as we build on the foundations already laid to refocus our efforts to improve our performance”.

Coffey has been with the RWE Group since its entry into the UK energy market in 2003.

RWE said it aimed “to overcome the problems at the UK supply subsidiary by the end of 2016”.