News

Last week's big energy story was all about the incredible profits that British Gas' posted. Centrica, the parent company faced public outrage after they released figures of a 23 per cent profit increase rise at British Gas. British Gas made a staggering £345 million from January to June this year, which is nearly £2 million a day and put it down to a surge in energy usage, owing to the "colder than usual" April-June period. But the reality of the situation is that these figures are deceptive. The positive results came predominately from the domestic market but their business market suffered a somewhat different fate. British Gas saw a 3% drop in businesses customers, down by 25,000 to under 1 million.  Profits also dropped by 27% to £93 million. British Gas' average business electricity prices have fluctuated in recent months, increasing n April and then dropping through May and June. Despite the annual average commercial energy bill being less than at the turn of the year,  British Gas annual business electricity bills  in June were nearly £600 over the industry average. This could predict a potential battle for customers as suppliers negotiate the volatility of the energy market. And with an energy broker on their side, businesses stand to improve their position further. Some industry observers believe that many businesses have come to the end of their 2 or 3 year contracts and are keen not to be rolled over into expensive tariffs.  With their increased awareness of support in the energy market from brokers and comparison sites, businesses have become far sharper on how they can cut their business energy costs.