Islands Energy Case Study

Supporting growth and modernisation across three utility brands

Islands Energy Group (IEG) supplies gas and energy services across Guernsey, Jersey, and the Isle of Man. As the organisation evolved, it needed modern digital infrastructure to support customer engagement, improve operational efficiency, and deliver a consistent online experience across regions. Aecor partnered with IEG to redesign public-facing websites, introduce ecommerce functionality, and build integrated portals for identity, administration and customer self-service.

“Over the last three years, Aecor have been building technical solutions to both improve our customers’ experience and expand our business capabilities. They have been instrumental in the design, build and ongoing technical support for our internal systems, so much so we continue to employ their services.”

Project Results

Three

region-specific responsive websites launched

E-commerce functionality

integrated for product and service sales

Secure customer portal

with account access, payments and meter readings

Single sign-on system

with self-registration and multi-account support

The challenge

The existing websites were inconsistent and limited in functionality, while backend systems were fragmented across regions. Customers had no simple way to manage their accounts online, leading to both customer frustration and unnecessary operational costs through reliance on their call centre and postal communications

IEG required a digital solution that could:

Deliver a unified brand experience across its three businesses
Introduce ecommerce capabilities for product and service sales
Enable secure, scalable self-service access for customers
Streamline backend operations and reduce manual processes. Integrated effectively with Microsoft Dynamics and internal tools

Our solution

Modernised public websites

Aecor designed and launched three fully responsive websites for IEG’s operations in Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. Each site offers region-specific content with a consistent brand experience and streamlined content management.

E-commerce capabilities

The new sites introduced ecommerce functionality, allowing customers to browse and purchase energy products and services online. Guest checkout options and user account creation support both convenience and retention.

Identity and admin portals

A secure sign-on system now allows customers to manage multiple gas accounts under one login. Two-factor authentication is built in, along with self-registration. Internal admin users have access to a dedicated portal for account management, bulk updates, and audit logs.

Customer self-service platform

A user-friendly portal lets customers view their bills, manage payments, submit meter readings and update preferences all in one place. The experience reduces inbound support and improves customer satisfaction.

Infrastructure upgrade

Behind the scenes, IEG’s platform was migrated to a more scalable and maintainable Azure environment. The architecture now supports secure deployments, system segregation, and long-term reliability without exposing internal infrastructure details.

Technical setup

Frontend

The frontend consists of the Magento storefront along with customer, identity, and admin portals built using Laravel and .NET, providing a seamless and unified user experience

Backend

Magento serves as the core ecommerce engine, supported by Laravel and .NET backend services, with Elasticsearch enabling fast product search and Azure Redis enhancing performance through caching.

Cloud and Infrastructure

The platform is hosted on Microsoft Azure and containerized using Docker and Docker Compose, with Azure Load Balancer and auto-scaling ensuring high availability and seamless scalability.

Data and Operations

Data is stored in managed Azure MySQL and PostgreSQL databases, with Azure Backup and Azure Monitor ensuring data protection, monitoring, and system reliability.

Results

IEG now delivers a streamlined, user-friendly experience to customers across all three islands.
Customers benefit from greater control over their accounts, while internal teams operate with more visibility and fewer manual tasks.
The ecommerce platform has opened new sales channels, and the integrated portals have improved service quality and operational confidence.