Vattenfall, the Swedish power group, is to enter the UK consumer energy market by buying iSupplyEnergy, a small gas and electricity supplier, as a springboard to challenge Britain’s “big six” utility companies. The deal, to be announced on Wednesday, marks the second new entry to the UK market by a large European utility in the recent weeks after Engie of France launched a consumer offering last month. iSupplyEnergy, based in Bournemouth, has 120,000 customers – a fraction of the millions serviced by large UK suppliers such as Centrica’s British Gas and SSE. However, Vattenfall said it planned to use the business as a platform for growth and its arrival promises to increase competition in a market that has been under intense political scrutiny over rising household bills.
FT 21st June 2017 read more »