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E4B in administration
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Advocatus_Diaboli
Posts: 4 Newbie


in Energy
The Milton Keynes Based company E4B went into Administration this morning. One of my children worked for the company and the staff were informed this morning that most of them were now out of a job.
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I used to work for E4B until this morning. We were told that as of 10.21am this morning the company had gone into receivership. The staff had 1 hr to collect there possesions and to leave the premises. There was no warning or fore sight, it was business as usually until about 11.15am this morning when the whole office was gathered and told the news. I am disgusted at how as now a ex member of staff we were treated. The directors obviously knew this was going to happen but didn't even bother to try and fore warn us.0
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Before anyone commits to a contract with another supplier they should take the following into consideration.
Q: If a supplier ceases to trade, what happens to those Industrial and Commercial consumers who are under contract terms and conditions?
A: Under The Utilities Act 2000, Ofgem are able to revoke a supplier's gas or electricity license when they cease to trade. Ofgem has a procedure (Supplier of Last Resort Revised Guidance, November 2003) to ensure that an energy supplier is sought, chosen or allocated to the consumer.
Sought
When a supplier ceases trading, the Receiver is able to use the consumer base as an asset. They will offer the consumer base for sale to other suppliers and Ofgem will ratify the suitability of the sale.
Chosen
If there is no purchaser for the consumer base, then Ofgem may decide to canvass for a Supplier of Last Resort.
Ofgem would approach those suppliers, normally the largest, for their comments. They would take into account whether the supplier can supply without affecting its ability to supply its current consumer base, whether the new supplier can offer the same tariffs and whether the suppliers want to inherit the consumer base.
Please note that those consumers assigned to a Supplier of Last Resort would be placed onto deemed contract rates.
Allocated
Ofgem would assign a Supplier of Last Resort only if the above options cannot be achieved. The nominated Supplier of Last Resort cannot object to Ofgem's decision. However, the consumer will be on a deemed rate until he agrees a contract with the Supplier of Last Resort, or has moved to his chosen supplier, as above. This is covered by Standard Condition; 29(2):" Supplier of Last Resort" in The Gas and Electricity Supply Licences.0 -
E4B have really gone belly up?Customers will not be disconnected but will automatically be transferred to another supplier in a process organised by the regulator. Customers' tariffs may change but they will be free to switch supplier."Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 20100
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Confirmed
they have gone0 -
OK, first off I work in the industry so I do know some stuff - however don't take what I say as gospel, this is just an internet forum, bear in mind I could be making up every word of this as far as you're concerned!
Why have E4B gone into administration?
They had massive debts, for various reasons. For example, for much of 2006-2007, they grew really fast, this was down to offering the lowest prices in the market, some 30-40% lower than their competitors. However they were in fact making a big loss on these meters, losses which have now been realised. One can only presume that their strategy was to get a lot of customers and then sell on the business, making lots of money for the shareholders. The bigger the company when they sold it on - the more money they would make.
I (used to) work for E4B, why weren't we told?
I can only guess, the bad news would've caused a drop in morale. Who really knows, management do strange things at times.
What will happen to the meters supplied by E4B?
The BBC thread links to / the post by ex-energywatch adviser below sum up the situation quite well. No-one wanted to buy E4B - discussions have probably been going on behind the scenes to find a buyer for a while but as the BBC article says - no buyer has been found. This means that the "supplier of last resort" clause will come into play - ofgem will give supply of the meters to a new supplier - I suspect that will be decided by the end of the week. This has happened in the past - here's a link to an ofgem release from when this situation has occured before as an example. http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Pages/MoreInformation.aspx?docid=28&refer=Media/PressRel
I am supplied for E4B - what does this mean for me?
Your previous contract and prices will be declared null and void, as they are with a now defunct company. The status of your debt (if any) with E4B is unclear, you could try contacting them but no-one has been answering the phones there all day. The administrators will try to repay as many debts as possible, so they may well want their money back from you.
As regards going forward, you will be put on out of contract prices with your new supplier as chosen by ofgem. Ofgem will choose the supplier offering the lowest rates for you, so long as ofgem think the supplier can take on E4B's customers without trouble. This means it will almost certainly be one of the Big 6. However you will be free to leave that supplier to join another, or to sign a contract with that supplier. There's a good chance that either of these options are likely to save you money compared to the tariff you will initially be placed on.
If you are currently supplied by E4B, then I strongly advise you check your current prices!
1) If you are on under 10p per unit, as many of you will be, then I would prepare now for your bills to go up as a result of this. You signed at rates below the current market, rates which were guaranteed for the length of your contract, but now the contract is null and void so you will have to agree a new contract at current market rates.
2) If you are on 14p or more, possibly as a result of an automatic renewal of your contract (of which there has been much complaining on these forums) then this is good news for you - you will now be free to sign a new contract with another supplier at lower prices. 10p-14p per unit is about what you will get at the moment for business supplies.
I hope this information is useful for all you money-saversAnd whilst you may be happy that the company has gone bust, try to spare a thought for the 150 or so employees of the company who have lost their jobs 2 months before Christmas, most of whom had no say in the business strategy and were just following orders.
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Advocatus_Diaboli wrote: »The Milton Keynes Based company E4B went into Administration this morning. One of my children worked for the company and the staff were informed this morning that most of them were now out of a job.
Ah, sorry to hear that, but perhaps you could tell me what they actually did at the company because as I understand it " It does not produce electricity" so what exactly does an electricity company which " does not produce electricity" actually do?
Seems to be like an airline without any planes? In which case it is hardly surprising it went bust?0 -
iamesbo - there is a lot more involved with suppling electricity than just generating it! Take for example the national grid, they don't produce electricity, they just own/maintain the nationwide pylons etc. Then there's the guy who reads your meter, there's the local distribution company (they own the wires between the national grid and your house) and a host of other agents as well.
The job of a supplier is to pay all these other agents - and the generator as well of course - and charge you for it all. Imagine if every person out there had to pay all the agents I have listed above - it would be chaos! Therefore electricity suppliers are there to deal with all that for you. E4B are/were one of these suppliers.0 -
E4b Thieves Gone Bust
Advocatus Diaboli,
Its not nice to hear of any honest person loosing their job.
I myself have had to make two people redundant today.
Your children where not to know they where employed by a bunch of thieves.
I hope they get another job soon.
I have to also think about the generators who have now not been paid by these people. I have just had several phone calls from people who where being intimidated by E4B and they have been under tremedious stress.
I hope the OFT and fraud squad can put these people in jail as a warning to others who mis-use position of power.If you weigh more than the space you take, You will sink !.0 -
WelshGandalf wrote: »iamesbo - there is a lot more involved with suppling electricity than just generating it! Take for example the national grid, they don't produce electricity, they just own/maintain the nationwide pylons etc. Then there's the guy who reads your meter, there's the local distribution company (they own the wires between the national grid and your house) and a host of other agents as well.
The job of a supplier is to pay all these other agents - and the generator as well of course - and charge you for it all. Imagine if every person out there had to pay all the agents I have listed above - it would be chaos! Therefore electricity suppliers are there to deal with all that for you. E4B are/were one of these suppliers.
"Imagine if every person out there had to pay all the agents I have listed above"
It would ceraintly be a lot cheaper not having to pay the middle men rigging the market. I would also be able to take to the generators for example and ask for example gas companies why they were charging such high prices when energy prices worldwide had halved.
I could also switch to an electricity company which was not using over priced gas.0 -
what happens if customer were in credit to these energy bandits?????:eek:0
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