Only six years ago, more than 98 per cent of households bought their energy from one of Britain’s Big Six suppliers and only a handful of small companies were vying to break their dominance. Today, the market has changed almost beyond recognition. More than 70 small suppliers have seized a quarter of the market. Yet despite the encouragement of politicians and regulators keen to promote competition, those small companies have started dropping like flies. Six household suppliers have gone bust this year. The largest two, Extra Energy and Spark Energy, with almost 400,000 household customers between them, collapsed last week. And more are likely to follow. Several are known to be struggling to meet payments and are believed to be on the brink; others have woeful customer service ratings that often have proved to be an indicator of a supplier in distress. At the same time, anger is growing over the rising bill faced by rival suppliers and their customers, who are forced to pick up the costs when a company fails.
Times 27th Nov 2018 read more »
Ovo looks to acquire Spark Energy’s operating company.
Utility Week 26th Nov 2018 read more »