4 September 2006
New figures from the price comparison and switching website uSwitch show that British Gas has spent over £56 million on advertising in the last year.
On top of this, the energy supplier has raised its gas prices by 56% and its electricity prices by 52%.
According to uSwitch, British Gas would appear to have come up with a 'price rise formula' of their own, which sees them spending £1 million pounds on advertising for every 1% they raise gas prices in an attempt to persuade their customers not to switch away.
Other statistics from uSwitch include the fact that more than 140,000 British Gas households could have been insulated from the price rises altogether for the same amount of money, while the advertising spend of British Gas is over a third greater than the combined spend of the other 'Big Five' energy suppliers (npower, ScottishPower, Scottish & Southern Energy, EDF Energy and Powergen).
Ann Robinson, uSwitch director of consumer policy, said: "While most households have been left calculating how they are going to afford their energy bills after being subjected to record price rises over the last 12 months, British Gas has been busy calculating how it can get away with excessive price rises and an unjustified premium on many of its products.
"It comes as no surprise that the worst performing suppliers in terms of customer satisfaction are the biggest spenders when it comes to advertising and trying to convince customers to stay. At the other end of the spectrum, Scottish & Southern Energy has managed to remain the cheapest supplier in the market, come out on top in the uSwitch Customer Satisfaction Survey and still only spend £275,000 on advertising. I think those figures speak for themselves."
uSwitch.com's free and impartial comparison & switching service can find the cheapest gas & electricity supplier for you.