What is a business energy broker?

How much does it cost to use a commercial energy broker?

You don't pay a commercial energy broker directly to use its services. Instead, they take commission from any agreements between customers and suppliers, based on unit rates and contract length.

How much could a business energy broker save your business?

It depends on the price you’re currently paying. But if you haven’t switched tariffs recently, you’re likely missing out on substantial savings that a great business energy broker could help you to get.

We work with energy suppliers from across the whole market, from bigger names to up-and-coming providers. And if you're not within your renewal window, we can monitor the situation and get back in touch with a great business gas quote and business electricity quote when the time is right.

Give us a call today on 0800 188 4930 to find out how much you could save.

How much should your business pay for energy?

In short, there’s no easy answer as each supplier needs to factor in a lot of different things when designing a bespoke quote, including:

• The type of business often dictates the energy usage pattern. Businesses that consume most of their energy when there is less demand from the network will have lower rates.
• Your business’s credit rating can impact the overall cost of your energy and the suppliers available to you.
• The amount of energy your business uses in a year. A higher volume normally means a lower price. But if unit rates decrease, the daily standing charge can increase. Always check your overall offer for the cost incurred for a full year rather than unit prices.
• The size of your business determines your energy buying power. If you compare business gas brokers and business electricity brokers, you’ll see that there are some that specialise in group energy buying services for small and medium businesses, but they’re rare.
• Location. Energy prices vary around the country. Scotland has some of the highest prices in the UK, whereas the Midlands has some of the lowest.
• The length of your contract. On average, each year you extend your contract adds an additional 6% to the unit cost whilst 2%-6% is deducted from the standing charge. Negotiation plays a part in determining contract length so it’s important to both compare business electricity brokers and compare business gas brokers to find a representative that’s a leading expert in their field.
• Using the same supplier for electricity and gas may get you a discount. This is another reason to properly compare business gas brokers and business electricity brokers to find one that works with many different suppliers.

Because of all the different elements involved, business energy prices will vary if you compare business energy brokers, suppliers and types of businesses. And because every business uses energy differently and has different energy efficiency measures in place, there’s no way of definitively saying how much energy your business should be using or working out the rates you should be paying.

The only way to find out how much you should be paying is to run a business energy comparison, but we’ve compiled a list of average usage figures to help you get a rough idea of how much you should be paying for your business energy according to company size. You should keep this in mind when you come to compare deals.

How to switch business energy with Uswitch

Using Uswitch to compare business energy deals and switch can help to save you both time and money. Unlike when switching with other brokers or going directly to suppliers, we only need your postcode to kick off your comparison. And we compare rates from our panel of trusted UK suppliers in one phone call.

If you go directly to the suppliers, you'll need to have the following information to hand: 

• Your MPRN to help the supplier locate your supply.
• Your energy consumption and how much you currently pay
• When your switching window opens and your contract end date

And you'll need to run through all these details with each supplier you contact. 

Remember, you need to compare rates from a range of suppliers to make sure you're on the best rates. This can be very time consuming and quite frustrating. And if you need to switch both business gas and business electricity suppliers, you'll need to go through the whole process twice   

If you've got the time and patience to do it yourself, once you've agreed a new deal then need to let your current supplier know you're leaving. Your switch will take place when your existing contract ends.

Or you can let our energy experts do all the hard work for you. We use smart data to cut the amount of time it takes to gather the information we need to compare quotes. And we only need to take your information once to compare business energy prices from our panel of trusted UK energy suppliers.

Give us a call now on 0800 188 4930 or pop your postcode in the box on the right and we'll get back to you.