Small Businesses Paying £2.5bn too Much for Energy

LONDON, March 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Huddlebuy and Make It Cheaper launch 'The Great Business Power Cut'

http://www.huddlebuy.co.uk/greatbusinesspowercut

UK small businesses are overpaying for their energy bills to the tune of £2.5bn according to new figures released today. These figures comprise £1bn on gas bills and £1.5bn on electricity bills.

Small businesses should be saving £2,500 on average a year on their energy bills - more than 30% of a typical annual bill. Many businesses stuck on uncompetitive tariffs could be saving up to 70% on their energy costs.

In response, Huddlebuy.co.uk, the daily deals site for small businesses, and Make It Cheaper, the business energy experts, have teamed up to launch the 'Great Business Power Cut' campaign - giving UK businesses the power to save billions of pounds a year.

The campaign has started with biggest ever UK online group buying initiative launched specifically for businesses - which will reach out to more than 500,000 small businesses that Huddlebuy, Make It Cheaper and their partners work with.

Experts at Huddlebuy and Make It Cheaper will then use the collective buying power of thousands of businesses to negotiate better deals for the nation's hard-working entrepreneurs.

It is estimated that there are 1.8m electricity meters and 1m gas meters within small businesses in the UK. Energy companies typically give small businesses a poor deal because they roll clients onto expensive 'renewal deals' after their initial, cheap contract is over. These new tariffs can be twice as expensive as the original ones, plus there is only a narrow window within which to opt out.

Saurav Chopra, CEO of Huddlebuy said: "Small businesses are paying through the nose when it comes to their energy bills. They are getting ripped off and we are determined to change that. Our Great Business Power Cut campaign harnesses the power of businesses joining forces to save billions of pounds. It has the potential to change the face of the business energy sector permanently."

Jonathan Elliott, managing director at Make It Cheaper, said: "The rates that energy companies charge their business customers can vary enormously. Knowing what's a good rate, how to get on it and then stay on it isn't necessarily that easy. However, that's exactly what the Great Business Power Cut is there to do, free of charge, for anyone who comes on board."

Doug Richard, former TV Dragon and leading entrepreneur: "There's no nice way of saying this but energy companies are taking advantage of small businesses by making billing opaque and switching complex. The demon intent in this is to take them to the cleaners with rollover rates. What's scandalous is there's nothing stopping suppliers from doing it, which is why the Great Business Power Cut is a big deal for smaller firms. It provides the necessary protection for anyone who's short of time or, quite frankly, ill-informed about buying their energy and means it's one less headache for them to worry about."

Key facts:

1. The average energy bill for a small company is over £8,000, or 9% of their annual costs
2. Average savings as a result of the Business Power Cut campaign will be 30%, but could be up to 70%.
3. The Business Power Cut campaign will aim to save nine out of ten businesses money within a 12 month period.
4. 30% of businesses will be able to switch and save immediately - these are the ones that are out of contract or within their 'renewal window'. 60% will save as they reach their renewal window over the course of a year. 10% will be locked in for a period longer than a year.
5. Energy costs are a vital and pressing issue for British businesses and are set to become an even bigger part of the average small businesses budget, with British Gas recently warning that power prices could rise for a decade.

About Huddlebuy:

Founded in 2011 by ex-Yahoo!, Apple and Microsoft executives, Huddlebuy is the largest B2B daily deals site in Europe that offers significant discounts products and services for entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses at specially negotiated prices.

Entrepreneurs save thousands of pounds a month on products and services and get exclusive access to deals normally reserved for large corporations.

Huddlebuy now helps more than 50,000 UK small businesses save millions of pounds. It has featured 200+ exclusive offers from leading brands such as Vistaprint, TALK TALK, Three, Philips, Streetcar, Euroffice amongst many others.

About Make It Cheaper:

Established in 2007 and based in Central London with 110 staff, Make It Cheaper is the number one destination for businesses to get a better deal on their utilities and other services. Dubbed the 'saving experts for business' by its customers, it receives more enquiries and arrange more new contracts than any other business price comparison service. These include the business customers of major domestic price comparison services with whom Make It Cheaper has partnerships, as well as many nationwide trade associations and charity membership organisations.

Acting on behalf of these customers with total impartiality and free-of-charge, Make It Cheaper offers year-on-year savings across a range of products including: business energy, telecoms, insurance and merchant services (chip & pin). By switching suppliers or helping to renegotiate deals with existing ones, it will typically save over 30% of costs - as well as a considerable amount of time that its customers can then spend on running their businesses.  Make It Cheaper has a Net Promoter Score of 74% and is currently ranked 39th in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100.

Editors Notes

For more details:

Saurav Chopra
saurav@huddlebuy.com 
+44(0)20-7748-3770