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Paul Kay was fantastic in securing us a great deal and explaining everything in full. Thanks and would wholeheartedly recommended.
Ben Jones
How to choose an energy provider
Utility Bidder help you compare providers to help find you the best deal.
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Business energy is so often in a state of flux, making it confusing at the best of times. For a business to benefit, it is important to understand energy use and take the necessary steps to become more energy efficient.
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Making sure you choose the best-suited energy suppliers can sound like a time consuming and frustrating process. After all, with over 60 energy suppliers currently operating in the UK – each offering a broad selection of different tariffs, service extras and perks – the energy market has never been more complex. However, if you’ve done your research, have a procurement plan in place and use the help of an industry expert, such as Utility Bidder, selecting your new energy providers can be a simple and stress-free process.
So, whether you’re on the lookout for electricity and water suppliers for your new business premises or home, or are simply looking to switch gas providers, carry on reading this post for the top industry tips and advice relating to personal and business energy procurement.
Can I choose my electricity company?
Absolutely! The electricity industry in the UK is a free and open market, meaning you have the right to choose which electricity company you would like to supply your home or business. This means you are free to shop around and use price comparison tools to find the best suited electricity suppliers and tariffs to provide your home and business energy.
Which electricity supplier to choose?
When it comes to selecting which electricity supplier will best suit your specific needs, there are a number of factors that you should consider before you sign up and become tied into a tariff with one supplier. This is particularly important for businesses, as corporate electricity contracts tend to be fixed-term, meaning you will be unable to switch to a new provider once you have signed a contract until that deal naturally expires.
Before researching deals and comparing the market, you should first consider the following variables:
- How much electricity (in kWh) does your home/business typically use?
- When in the day does your home/business consume the most electricity?
- Are you looking for a supplier that will simply provide your home/business with the cheapest deal, or are you interested in deals with built-in service extras and perks?
- Do you want a specialist green electricity supplier that can help your home/business become more environmentally-friendly and sustainable?
Once you have answers to these basic questions, the search to find the most suitable electricity supplier for you can begin. As well as using industry-expert price comparison websites such as Utility Bidder to narrow down your search, cut through the noise and find the best deals for you, other resources such as Trustpilot and Ofgem can help you decide by providing helpful, independently-collated reviews and rankings.
Can I choose my water provider?
Under current UK law, domestic homeowners are not able to choose their own water provider or sewerage service provider. This means that the company that provides your property with water depends solely on where you live. While you can’t change your supplier, you can usually choose the nature of your plan. Typically you can choose between installing a water meter that means you only pay for the water you use or, alternatively, you can pay a fixed price for your water which stays the same regardless of how much water you use.
While individual households are unable to select their own water provider, this is not the case for businesses. Since the deregulation of the commercial water market in 2017, businesses have been able to choose their own supplier and switch companies at the end of a contract, allowing savings to be found. The easiest method of finding the best water rates for your business is to use a specialist price comparison site such as Utility Bidder. We can help your business secure the best water rates through the use of our excellent supplier relations and expert market insights.
How do I find the cheapest energy supplier?
Finding the cheapest energy supplier for your home or business is all about staying on top of market trends and regularly comparing the offers available to you. When it comes to domestic energy, switching suppliers if you find a better deal is usually very simple and far more common than you may think. Between January and May 2019 alone, over two million people in the UK switched gas suppliers, while almost 2.5 million changed electricity companies. Finding the cheapest deal simply requires a little bit of research and comparison work.
Although switching is not quite as straightforward for businesses, as their contracts tend to be fixed – meaning they have to wait until their contract is coming to an end before switching – the key to finding the cheapest suppliers is to watch out for industry trends and begin to compare the offers available to you when your current deals are close to expiring.
How to choose the best gas and electricity supplier
Choosing the best energy supplier to suit your specific wants and needs, rather than just looking for the cheapest deal, requires a clear plan of what you are looking for. Do you want a supplier that can help you make your household or business more eco-friendly? Do you want an innovative supplier that makes the most of new smart technology? Do you want a locally-run provider that can guarantee the best maintenance and support services? When it comes to finding the best fit, these are the questions you will need to answer first.
Once you have a clear idea of what you want from your energy supplier, you may wish to compare various suppliers and plans to find the best deal for you at the cheapest price possible. Utility Bidder can help you with this. Simply tell us your name, phone number and postcode, along with any specific requirements you may be looking for with your new supplier, and we’ll give you a call to discuss the best choices for your business.
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Excellent service from Kenny in the Manchester office, he worked hard to find the best price for me and explained everything along the way.
Will definitely use him again in the future and would recommend.
Jenny Burd
I spoke to Paul Kay this morning who in the space of 30 mins looks to have halved my salon electric bill, he was personable, knowledgeable and honest. The proof will be seeing if the bills actually reduce and if so I will leave another review but so far an excellent service
Julie Gale
I dealt with Utility Bidder over the past couple of days, amazing service and prompt. Paul Kay gave excellent customer service! would highly reccomend.
Alex Mcwilliam
Without a doubt utility bidder has saved my sanity. They have sorted months of going around in circles with a supplier in under a week.
I would highly recommend to everyone I know.
Nichola Morton
Had a lovely phone call from Connor this morning, he was very helpful, explained everything very clearing and all I had to do was agree to everything that was suggested and he done the rest! Very happy with the service
Terie Billson-Rodwell
I have just worked with Alex from Utility Bidder to sort our electricity contract today. He has got us an excellent price for our charity and it has all been sorted in half an hour (possibly less!). He was extremely helpful. THANK YOU
Lorraine Schulze
Had a call from Alex York who within minutes had arranged a new electricity contract with a new supplier. He was extremely courteous, professional and friendly. Highly recommend.
Susan Bateman
Robert Johnson has just completed my renewal contract with my energy supplier. He was very helpful and very efficient. It’s the first time I have used Utility Bidder and I will definitely use them again and highly recommend them. Thank you for making it so easy.
Line Verma
Case studies
We’re dedicated to helping businesses like yours save more on energy. That’s why we’ve put together a selection of case studies showcasing exactly what we have achieved for company’s similar to yours.
Haywards Heath
2021
Year Joined
£1905
Total Savings
Haywards Heath RFC enjoys a strong community presence in Haywards Heath, West Sussex where the club supports a senior rugby team, six youth sides and six mini sides. The Club was established in 1959 and boasts affiliations with the London and South East Division of England Rugby and Sussex Rugby.
HTC Corporation
2020
Year Joined
£14000
Total Savings
Founded in 2009, with a range of industry accolades to our name, Hayri recognised that Utility Bidder was a well-established and growing business and our five star Trustpilot reviews along with our size and longevity ensured HTC Europe had peace of mind.
“I was impressed with Utility Bidder from the start,” said Hayri. “Nothing was too much trouble for my account manager Rebecca Lau. Professionals recognise fellow professionals and it’s true that one doesn’t buy from a company, one buys from a person and Rebecca is a credit to Utility Bidder.
Robert Jones
2019
Year Joined
£150
Total Savings
Rob says that thanks to the competitive rates secured by Utility Bidder in his studio, it would be cheaper to live there than at home! “We pay about £30 a month for gas during the winter and around £25 a month for electricity – and that’s despite having a lot of energy-guzzling equipment such as studio lights and fan heaters. Our energy bills at home are far more expensive!”
Sharda Care
2014
Year Joined
£20,000
Total Savings
Sharda Care is contacted frequently by companies within the energy industry, but the desire to work with Utility Bidder was motivated by our bill validation service (and that they hadn’t checked their VAT). Our team have an experienced background in working with businesses of this size and will instinctively scrutinise all utilities to investigate potential savings.
Cablecraft Limited
2017
Year Joined
£170,000
Total Savings
Utility Bidder saves thousands of pounds on energy expenditure for Midlands business. Cable craft have been supplying cable identification, termination and management products throughout the world for over 20 years servicing a diverse range of industries.
Thomson Hayes
2016
Year Joined
£2,000
Total Savings
Thomson Hayes retail has been established for 30 years and specialises in the design and manufacture of high-quality furniture, exhibition stands, museum and store fit-outs.
