As a small business owner, you want to keep overheads as low as you can. A proven way to achieve this is to make sure you aren’t overpaying on energy!
Should my small business switch energy provider?
If you haven’t switched energy provider for a while, the chances are that you are overpaying on your gas and electricity bills. The overpayment can range between hundreds or thousands of pounds per year. Fortunately, it’s easy to switch suppliers and move onto a cheaper deal, saving yourself a considerable amount of money!
To start switching, you typically wait until you’re in your ‘renewal window’, which is usually close to your contract end date. However, you can check the market whenever you like, using comparison tools like BusinessEnergyQuotes.com, which provides business energy quotes within 10 seconds.
If you don’t switch at the end of your contract, you’ll move on to an ‘out-of-contract’ rate which is far more expensive (sometime 80% more costly!), so it’s very important to be proactive and move into a better deal before this happens.
For businesses with several sites, you may be able to negotiate a better deal through multi-site contracts. This lets you combine all your tariffs into a single package with one supplier, making it more manageable for you, and often saving you money in the process.
How long does it take to switch business energy contracts?
With us, you can sign a new contract online in less than 3 minutes. At BusinessEnergyQuotes.com, our administration team will contact your old and new suppliers and handle the switching process on your behalf.
We also keep you posted with dates and the progress of your switch, and you have your own personal Account Manager who will handle your contract for you for the duration of your term.
Your energy will still operate the same, through the same cables, wiring and piping, so there’ll be no disruption to your workplace at all!
How much do small businesses typically pay for their energy?
The amount you pay on a business energy contract varies on a range of factors, including:
- The type of business you run
- The total consumption of gas and electricity
- The time of day of energy consumption
- Weekday vs weekend consumption
- The location of your business
- The size of your business
For instance, a microbusiness (typically, a company with less than 10 employees) will use up to 15,000 kWh of electricity per year, which on average will cost around £1,200 per year. A microbusiness uses around 10,000 kWh of gas a year, which costs between £400-£600 annually.
For a larger ‘small’ business, they can expect these figures to be doubled. Medium-sized businesses use up to 75,000 kWh of electricity and around 30,000 kWh of gas, so could be looking at annual bills of around £5,000 and £1,800 respectively.
Once again, the true costs will depend on many different factors, but these figures give an indication of what most small and microbusinesses in the UK would pay.
What type of business do I have?
A SME business is a Small or Medium-sized Enterprise. This is a business with fewer than 250 employees.
Within this umbrella, there are three categories, as follows:
- a medium-sized business has fewer than 250 employees
- a small business has fewer than 50 employees
- a micro business has fewer than 10 staff
What should I do if I can’t pay my energy bills?
If you receive an energy bill and you can’t afford to pay it, or if you think your bill is incorrect, it’s important to resolve this with your supplier as urgently as possible. If the bill is correct, but you can’t afford to pay it, ask if you can arrange a payment plan.
If you’re a BusinessEnergyQuotes.com customer, you will have your own Business Account Manager who can help you analyse your energy bills.
If you’re struggling to pay your energy bills because of the impact of coronavirus, there are many guides published by the government on the financial support available. You can click here to find out which support you could access.
A quick summary of some support available:
- Loans, tax relief and cash grants, including a new temporary Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, (CBILS), available through participating lenders
- The right to apply for staff to get up to 80% of pay if they can’t work, with some contributions from employers (commonly known as the ‘Furlough’ scheme)
- Grants of up to £2,500 per month, for at least 3 months, for the self-employed who are unable to work, on the provision of valid documentation
- Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) refunds