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Small Businesses Missing Out on Crucial Energy Savings
Listed under: News
Published: Thursday, February 25, 2010
Larger companies are currently able to secure far better energy prices than their smaller counterparts, according to the latest industry data available from the Government.
The statistics, which reveal average electricity prices for small businesses rose by 15% to 17% during the third quarter of both 2008 and 2009, compared to just 9% to 11% for larger companies and a mere five percent for the country's biggest firms, suggest that some of the UK's most well-known energy groups are presently failing to pass on reductions in energy costs to their customers and are instead increasing their prices to boost their own profits.
The findings are just one of several damaging studies to have surfaced over the past month, with a recent report from the Department of Energy and Climate Change revealing that average non-domestic gas prices rose eight percent for smaller businesses last year, whilst dropping somewhere between 14% to 52% for all other customers.
With a recent report from the business support group The Forum of Private Business (FPB) showing that more than 84% of small business owners in the UK currently cite rising utility costs as a 'major concern' in the everyday running of their companies, the FPB is urging retailers to think more carefully when shopping around for deals.
Commenting on the statistics, Nick Palin, finance director at the FPB, says, “While the big energy companies always pass on wholesale price increases in full, the same cannot be said when prices fall. This is the tip of the iceberg. By refusing to play fair some utilities giants have forced costs on small businesses they can ill afford.”
The FPB’s utilities adviser Colin Beake, of Utility Options, agrees, adding, “Business owners are busy doing what they do best – running their enterprises and often this means contracts roll over, leaving them with costly bills. Larger enterprises can afford to employ purchasing managers, whose job is to ensure they get the best prices on utilities, but most small firms do not have that luxury.”
Vicky Hammerstein, who owns online knitting store Hulu in Devon and plans to expand her business over the next year, agrees something needs to be done. “I am really shocked by the results in the survey and will certainly be shopping around much more carefully when it comes to expanding the company in the future. It is absolutely terrible that the country's biggest energy firms are taking advantage of smaller businesses like ours and I would definitely like to see much more being done.”
Have you been affected by rising utility costs? Email your stories to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
The statistics, which reveal average electricity prices for small businesses rose by 15% to 17% during the third quarter of both 2008 and 2009, compared to just 9% to 11% for larger companies and a mere five percent for the country's biggest firms, suggest that some of the UK's most well-known energy groups are presently failing to pass on reductions in energy costs to their customers and are instead increasing their prices to boost their own profits.
The findings are just one of several damaging studies to have surfaced over the past month, with a recent report from the Department of Energy and Climate Change revealing that average non-domestic gas prices rose eight percent for smaller businesses last year, whilst dropping somewhere between 14% to 52% for all other customers.
With a recent report from the business support group The Forum of Private Business (FPB) showing that more than 84% of small business owners in the UK currently cite rising utility costs as a 'major concern' in the everyday running of their companies, the FPB is urging retailers to think more carefully when shopping around for deals.
Commenting on the statistics, Nick Palin, finance director at the FPB, says, “While the big energy companies always pass on wholesale price increases in full, the same cannot be said when prices fall. This is the tip of the iceberg. By refusing to play fair some utilities giants have forced costs on small businesses they can ill afford.”
The FPB’s utilities adviser Colin Beake, of Utility Options, agrees, adding, “Business owners are busy doing what they do best – running their enterprises and often this means contracts roll over, leaving them with costly bills. Larger enterprises can afford to employ purchasing managers, whose job is to ensure they get the best prices on utilities, but most small firms do not have that luxury.”
Vicky Hammerstein, who owns online knitting store Hulu in Devon and plans to expand her business over the next year, agrees something needs to be done. “I am really shocked by the results in the survey and will certainly be shopping around much more carefully when it comes to expanding the company in the future. It is absolutely terrible that the country's biggest energy firms are taking advantage of smaller businesses like ours and I would definitely like to see much more being done.”
Have you been affected by rising utility costs? Email your stories to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
