'Big six' energy firms lose further market share

lstar337

Britain's big six energy companies are continuing to lose market share to smaller independent suppliers, new figures show.

Added together, the large suppliers now have 92.4% of the market, down from 99.8% five years ago.

In other words, independent suppliers have increased their share from just 0.2% to 7.6% over the same period.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29079596

Andy_WSM

Good. Maybe they will stop fleecing customers.

Wholesale price goes up. Utility costs go up.
Wholesale price goes down. Utility costs still go up.

Must think we are stupid.

savemoney

Good hope to leave SP soon and hopefully never use any of the greedy big 6 again

thor

Andy_WSM wrote: »

Good. Maybe they will stop fleecing customers.

Wholesale price goes up. Utility costs go up.
Wholesale price goes down. Utility costs still go up.

Must think we are stupid.

Not only that but methinks they are rapidly running out of excuses. Unfortunately for them the government called them on their green levy bleating(even though not all power companies will be passing the subsequent savings to all their customers), eveyone can see their claim for charging extortionate bills due to buying in advance for the lie it is and their profits appear to be greater than they were trying to make out.
These energy 'fat cats' are trying their best to compete for most hated occupation on the UK with the bankers.

macman

I still find this rather depressing. Giving the sustained media onslaught against 'greedy energy suppliers', which of course has been focused entirely on the Big Six, the fact that nearly 19 out of every 20 UK households still uses one of them shows that most people simply can't be bothered to take 15 minutes time to switch.

System

i would change to a smaller firm but they are always a lot more expensive for me living in north east and using E7

sheffield_lad

I think there is misconception of why energy prices are high. Firstly we are not high in comparison to any other country in the world. France, Germany and most of Europe have higher prices than the UK.

If & when smaller firms get bigger they then have to offer the carbon reduction obligations of the big 6.

Ask yourself if you seriously think energy is overpriced and if so by how much?

Some of you maybe sensible 10% but I fear a majority think without the 6 their costs will be 50% less.

The biggest winners when folk switch are comparison websites, one firm paid out over £32m in commission last year. Even Martin L hates the idea of you getting a good deal from the firm your with as no one makes anything except the user.

Bark01

It’s just standard market forces and evidence of competition. The large suppliers carry less risk by hedging over a larger window. Smaller suppliers don’t have the financial backing to do this so have to buy more energy at the spot price. This makes them cheaper whilst wholesale prices are falling but more expensive when they start increasing.

As todays MSE article points out, prices have been slowly falling over the last year so smaller suppliers can use the spot price to their advantage. The drop in prices is forecast to end early 2015 and then start to rise. As prices rise smaller suppliers will be hit more so the current price gap between small /large suppliers will erode. The other issue is that as smaller suppliers grow during this period they have to start paying social and eco cost and also deal with the costs of a rapidly expanding business.