PIMLICO PLUMBERS HITS BACK AT BRITISH GAS ‘BULLYING’

Pimlico Plumbers has hit back at British Gas’ ‘bullying tactics’ towards its rivals and the misuse of its resources.
The Central London-based company, which employs around 200 people, has responded to a letter from British Gas’ legal department highlighting the need for clarification of Pimlico Plumbers’ pricing structure.
In its letter, British Gas suggests that Pimlico Plumbers should not display its hourly rate exclusive of VAT.
Pimlico Plumbers, which operates a transparent pricing policy and is one of the only UK plumbing companies to publish its prices on its website, does make it clear that costs are exclusive of VAT.
It is currently in discussions with its lawyers to confirm how its prices should be displayed, but Managing Director Charlie Mullins is more concerned at the manner in which the matter was brought to his attention.
Charlie Mullins said: “British Gas should look more closely at itself before using bullying tactics towards its smaller rivals. No wonder they are losing money and employees if this is what they think is the best use of their resources.
“We have the most transparent prices in the industry – you won’t find many other plumbers who publish their prices on their website – but the nice people at British Gas thought that maybe showing the hourly rate exclusive of VAT might be a bit confusing.
“I’ve left the legals to my lawyers and of course we’ll do whatever is necessary, but what is clear that these are the actions of a multi-billion pound company that is feeling the pinch and has decided to go on the attack against its better performing, even though smaller, competitors.”
“This is a massive company flexing its muscles under the guise of doing a service on behalf of its industry. Fair enough if all was rosy in its own garden, but this is a company that has managed to dump 200,000 customers with an expected drop in profits of around £150million, as well as apparently shedding 850 people from its services division.
“Maybe Centrica's CEO Sam Laidlaw might like to talk to his people at British Gas about managing resources and looking after customers better by spending less time, and money, writing legal letters to competitors.”