Vertex Business Services signs three-year contract extension with Piedmont Natural Gas

Vertex Business Services, the leader in Customer Management Services for Utilities in North America, announces the signing of a three-year contract extension with Piedmont Natural Gas (PNG). It is the third contract extension for this successful partnership which began in 2006 and will continue through 2011.

PNG is one of the fastest growing gas distributors in North America. PNG focuses upon regulated natural gas distribution in their core southeast US market where they currently serve over one million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Vertex provides PNG with supplemental call centre services which will be expanded under this contract extension to include all types of PNG customer service calls. Services will continue to be provided from Vertex’s Scottsbluff, NE location.

“Since we began working with Vertex Business Services in 2006, Vertex has demonstrated a shared dedication to delivering superior customer service to our customers,” said Keith Napier, Director of Customer Contact Centres for Piedmont Natural Gas. “Vertex’s extensive utility industry and customer care expertise will ensure that our commitment and performance-driven approach to providing customer care will continue to be strong.”

“We’re extremely pleased that Piedmont Natural Gas has chosen to continue to partner with Vertex to deliver exceptional customer service,” said Richard Charles, Head of Vertex’s Client Services organization. “Over the past three years, Vertex has developed an in-depth understanding of PNG’s customer service objectives. We look forward to building on that experience to deliver these newly expanded services.”

-Ends-

For more information, visit www.vertexgroup.com/na.

Media inquiries to:

US: Diane Webb

(t) + 1 214-274-4680

(e) Diane.Webb {at} Vertexna(.)com

UK: Anna Campopiano

(t) +44 7827 886991

(e) anna.campopiano {at} vertex.co(.)uk

About Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY)

· Piedmont Natural Gas is an energy services company primarily engaged in the distribution of natural gas to more than one million residential, commercial and industrial utility customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, including 62,000 customers served by municipalities who are wholesale customers.

· Our subsidiaries are invested in joint venture, energy-related businesses, including unregulated retail natural gas marketing, interstate natural gas storage and intrastate natural gas transportation. More information about Piedmont Natural Gas is available at http://www.piedmontng.com

About Vertex Business Services

· Vertex Business Services is owned by Vertex Group Ltd (Vertex), a private equity company.

· Vertex employs nearly 9,000 people on three continents and in 75 locations, delivering solutions to a wide range of clients 24/7 and supporting 45 million consumers. In North America, there are more than 2,500 dedicated professionals based in 18 Centres of Excellence.

· We serve more than 70 electric, gas and water clients in North America and are a recognized leader in Customer Management Services for the Utilities and Financial Services industries.

· We provide a wide range of transformational service solutions to deliver successful outcomes for our clients in the areas of:

o BPO & CMO

o IT Applications, Services and Products

o Consulting and Transformation

o Debt Management and Special Servicing.

· Annually, we process 28 million global payment transactions valued at $1.9 billion and handle 20 million inbound calls. We print and distribute 30 million documents, process 2.2 million items of incoming mail and create 45 million items of outbound mail. We are proud to serve more than 23 million consumers in North America and one in three of the UK population.