Most energy procurement services begin and end with a price comparison.
The problem with the broker market
What good procurement involves
Demand review first.
Before going to market we review your consumption: half-hourly data where available, capacity levels against actual maximum demand, and out-of-hours usage. Reducing the volume, correcting an oversized kVA capacity, or fixing a control failure changes the size of the purchase and sometimes the right product. Buying a smaller amount of energy well beats buying a large amount cheaply.
Timing and market intelligence.
Wholesale power and gas markets move daily, and the difference between a well-timed and badly-timed purchase on a multi-year contract is substantial. We monitor the forward curves continuously and advise on when to engage the market, without pretending anyone can call the bottom. Our clients receive clear market commentary in plain English, not a wall of charts.
Contract award and mobilisation.
We check the contract paperwork against the agreed offer before signature, because discrepancies between quote and contract are more common than the industry admits, and we manage registrations, objections and transfer dates so supply switches cleanly.
The right contract structure.
Fixed, flexible, or blended; contract length; the treatment of non-commodity costs, which now make up the majority of a typical electricity bill and can be fixed or passed through. There is no universally correct answer. A single school with predictable usage has different needs from a trust with thirty sites or a manufacturer with volatile load. We set out the trade-offs of each structure honestly, including the risks, rather than steering everyone to the product that is easiest to sell.
A proper tender.
We take your requirement to the whole market, on accurate consumption data and correct meter details, so offers come back comparable and deliverable. Errors at this stage, wrong meter classifications, missed MPANs, stale consumption figures, surface later as billing disputes, so we get the data right first. For trusts and groups we advise on whether to buy sites together or separately, and structure the tender accordingly.
After the contract is signed
Bill validation.
We check invoices against the contracted rates, published network charges and metered consumption. Billing errors, wrong rates, incorrect capacity charges, estimated reads that never true up, out-of-contract rates applied in error, are routine in this industry, and they compound quietly across sites and years. We find them, quantify them and recover them.
Contract management.
Letters of authority kept current, renewal dates tracked well in advance so you are never rolled onto out-of-contract rates, new sites and meter changes handled properly, and queries with suppliers pursued to resolution rather than logged and forgotten.
Ongoing demand insight.
Because we hold your consumption data for validation, we can flag when usage changes in ways that matter: a site whose baseload has crept up, a capacity level that no longer fits, an anomaly that suggests a metering fault. Procurement, data and demand reduction work as one service, not three.
Who we work with
Schools and multi-academy trusts.
We understand school budgeting cycles, the governance requirements around procurement decisions, and the practicalities of estates teams stretched across many sites. For trusts we can review existing arrangements, including local authority SLAs and framework contracts, and give an honest view of whether they still serve you. Sometimes they do, and we will say so.
Public sector organisations.
Procurement that stands up to scrutiny, with a documented, auditable process and clear reporting for boards and committees.
Businesses.
From single-site companies to multi-site portfolios with dozens of supplies, including energy-intensive users for whom procurement interacts with compliance schemes and exemptions that materially affect the final delivered price. Where reliefs or exemptions may apply to your operations, we will identify them, because paying levies you are entitled not to pay is the most avoidable cost on the bill.
What you can expect from us
Independence
We are tied to no supplier and take no volume incentives. Every recommendation is ours alone.
Transparency
Our commission is disclosed and sits visibly in standing charges by default. You will always know what our service costs.
Accountability
We are registered with the Energy Ombudsman and operate under the RECCo Code of Practice, with the complaint routes and conduct standards that entails
Plain dealing
We present options with their trade-offs, including the option of doing nothing. If your current contract is competitive, we will tell you and suggest you revisit us nearer renewal.
