Charles Lapierre, our Central Europe Key Account Manager, joined Nord Pool two years ago and has notched up a decade in the energy business. “Ten years in this sector may sound like a lot,” says Charles. “But at Nord Pool I am surrounded by expert colleagues, some of whom were involved in starting the first energy markets. That ‘expertise centre’ is highly valuable.”

In a role that is very much customer-facing, Charles – who speaks French, English and Norwegian – feels that standards of service are all-important. “I enjoy the collaborative atmosphere between ourselves and customers. We spend a lot of time improving product suit or systems, which makes it all the more pleasing when we see a customers’ business grow thanks to Nord Pool products and services. The entire markets team is highly customer-oriented. That is something which we absolutely emphasise internally. We maintain a fairly small, focused, expert team, which means we can be fast and agile in dealing with customer challenges and questions.”

And Charles also believes that listening is vital. “A key part of my job is to hear what customers are saying and, wherever they might experience a sticking point, to get things moving. In the two years that I have been at Nord Pool we have already made great progress in what we deliver to customers across Europe. It makes me feel that, where deliveries for our customers are concerned, almost anything is possible!”

But Charles also believes that a fundamental strength is required too: “It remains really important for us to deliver a robust, reliable intraday and day-ahead trading system for all of our customers, regardless of their size or where they trade from. My aim with Nord Pool’s customers in central Europe is to work in partnership so that we can move forward together to achieve a fair liberalised European energy market. And I feel that, since we can offer access to all short term electricity markets in Europe, Nord Pool is the business to make that happen.”