When Virgin Media and O2 merged in June 2021, the new company, Virgin Media O2, set out to combine fixed and mobile connectivity to help customers work seamlessly from home, office or on the move. The business now serves millions of UK consumers and organisations.
The inflexion point
At the time, the telecommunications sector was experiencing significant transformation, with customers demanding more consultative relationships from their technology partners. Virgin Media O2 Business recognised the need to build stronger, more meaningful relationships with senior customer executives to deliver mutual value.
Virgin Media O2 needed a structured approach to understand customer priorities, share market and technology insights, and create a platform for peer-to-peer learning amongst senior decisionmakers across multiple industry sectors. The business needed to understand evolving customer issues and provide an opportunity to co-create solutions. Essentially, it wanted an approach that offered genuine peer-to-peer value, avoiding any perception of a sales push.
Our engagement
The Inflexion team partnered with Virgin Media O2 leadership to refresh a longstanding O2 Customer Advisory Board initiative for the combined business that would create genuine value for all participants whilst deepening strategic relationships with key accounts.
Inflexion Group CEO, Bev Burgess, had previously worked closely with the O2 leadership team to create a comprehensive customer advocacy programme spanning multiple years of structured advisory board sessions, themed events, and strategic research initiatives.
Bev now worked with Nimmi Bhalla, B2B Marketing Director and Mandy Gidda, Customer Marketing Lead, to reignite the Customer Advisory Board, sponsored and chaired by CTO Jeanie York. The new board brought together 15–20 senior executives from Virgin Media O2’s most important customers. Members included CTOs, CIOs and senior operational leaders from major organisations across construction, retail, public sector, transport, utilities and the charity sectors, ensuring a rich mix of perspectives.
Key deliverables over the life of the Board included:
- Designing the Customer Advisory Board structure, charter, and operating principles under Chatham House rules
- Developing a robust member recruitment strategy
- Creating facilitated discussion formats focusing on strategic business outcomes
- Establishing research programmes guided by the Board to generate valuable benchmarking insights for members and the wider business customer community
- Refreshing the Board from O2 Business to Virgin Media O2 Business following the merger
- Facilitating regular board sessions covering priority topics such as digital transformation, ESG, cybersecurity and innovation in low-growth economies
Key outcomes
The Customer Advisory Board programme has delivered significant value for both Virgin Media O2 and its participating customers over its multiple years of operation.
For Virgin Media O2, the board has created a trusted platform for gathering feedback on strategic initiatives, testing new propositions and deepening relationships with customer executives.
Board members consistently report high satisfaction with the programme, particularly valuing the opportunity to share experiences and learn from peers facing similar challenges across different industry sectors. The diversity of perspectives has created rich discussions that participants find genuinely valuable for their own strategic planning. Members have specifically praised the programme’s focus on substance over sales, the quality of facilitation and the genuine peer learning opportunities created through the structured discussion format.
The final word from Gidda:
“Some of our CAB members also sit on other advisory boards and councils. They tell us that our Board is the best by far, in terms of the content, peer discussion and overall experience. It has certainly helped us to deepen our relationships with the executives representing our most important customers.”
