Tomato Energy goes bust - here's what you need to know

hateincompetence

Comments seem to be about domestic supply only. We're a small business with low usage and have not had a correct bill since account opened. Stopped DDs 4 months ago hoping usage will catch up with earlier payments. Just had the latest threat of legal action (30 minutes ago) as not one Tomato employee to date has applied any grey cells. Pity someone can't switch off the computer auto generating threatening debt collection emails. No, we don't owe any money - still actually in credit despite what their inept systems claim. 

TopDogNos1

MWT said:

TopDogNos1 said:

I assume the Group of companies under SENAPT LIMITED and the directors will all also be checked to ensure they are financially stable and maybe they could provide some of the money owed.

The others only come into play if the directors have been stupid enough to do something that would pierce the corporate veil, otherwise they are each a separate entity and not liable for the debts of the failed company.

There may be loans that will need to be repaid according to their terms, which I expect are quite long, but otherwise the focus will remain on Tomato itself.  

OK so Senapt tried their software their only one customer  , Logicor Energy Limited which in 2019 didn't have good looking balance sheet and later changed it's name to Tomato, how were they ever allowed to become a utilities supplier , and yes the directors should be struck off from all companies to ensure they don't move to another shell company and start all over again. Check filing history for Tomato Energy at companies house and the accounts from Sept 2019 ( was Logicor Energy Limited  ) had £22k owed from debtors and amounts due to creditors within a year £993k but did have £138 , £138 GBP in the bank ) They appear to already have another Energy Company.Northern Gas Heating Limited (Registered number: 04122004) , last accounts owed from debtors approx £1m and due to creditors within a year £7m, but appear to have stocks which went from £333k to over £5m in a year?

masonic

TopDogNos1 said:

MWT said:

TopDogNos1 said:

I assume the Group of companies under SENAPT LIMITED and the directors will all also be checked to ensure they are financially stable and maybe they could provide some of the money owed.

The others only come into play if the directors have been stupid enough to do something that would pierce the corporate veil, otherwise they are each a separate entity and not liable for the debts of the failed company.

There may be loans that will need to be repaid according to their terms, which I expect are quite long, but otherwise the focus will remain on Tomato itself.  

OK so Senapt tried their software their only one customer  , Logicor Energy Limited which in 2019 didn't have good looking balance sheet and later changed it's name to Tomato, how were they ever allowed to become a utilities supplier , and yes the directors should be struck off from all companies to ensure they don't move to another shell company and start all over again. Check filing history for Tomato Energy at companies house and the accounts from Sept 2019 ( was Logicor Energy Limited  ) had £22k owed from debtors and amounts due to creditors within a year £993k but did have £138 , £138 GBP in the bank ) They appear to already have another Energy Company.Northern Gas Heating Limited (Registered number: 04122004) , last accounts owed from debtors approx £1m and due to creditors within a year £7m, but appear to have stocks which went from £333k to over £5m in a year?

In a couple of months there will be some more recent financial data in the administrators proposals. Assuming they get appointed.

MWT

TopDogNos1 said:

OK so Senapt tried their software their only one customer  , Logicor Energy Limited which in 2019 didn't have good looking balance sheet and later changed it's name to Tomato, how were they ever allowed to become a utilities supplier ...

Logicor date back to a time when it was easier to become an energy supplier and they had a couple of attempts at selling low-cost tariffs but it didn't work out. The owners were closing down their operations when Senapt managed to buy them to avoid losing their last customer. Up to then they had not really been in much trouble and were behaving well in the circumstances.

TopDogNos1 said:

... and yes the directors should be struck off from all companies to ensure they don't move to another shell company and start all over again.

You can't strike off the directors merely for trying and failing, it has to be something that is actually considered to be a lot worse than that, like wrongful trading. We will have to wait and see if there is actually anything that meets the standard for sanctions.

TopDogNos1 said:

Check filing history for Tomato Energy at companies house and the accounts from Sept 2019 ( was Logicor Energy Limited  ) had £22k owed from debtors and amounts due to creditors within a year £993k but did have £138 , £138 GBP in the bank ) They appear to already have another Energy Company.Northern Gas Heating Limited (Registered number: 04122004) , last accounts owed from debtors approx £1m and due to creditors within a year £7m, but appear to have stocks which went from £333k to over £5m in a year?

Both of those companies were acquired by Senapt and are part of the larger Senapt group.

Tomato lent money to Northern Gas Heating to buy the stock, hence the level of creditors, and as far as I can see the stock was intended to be used for the Tomatopia installs.

... but all of that was back in 2023, and as Masonic says, there should be some more useful financial information when/if the administration process gets started...

 

QrizB

MWT said:

TopDogNos1 said:

OK so Senapt tried their software their only one customer  , Logicor Energy Limited which in 2019 didn't have good looking balance sheet and later changed it's name to Tomato, how were they ever allowed to become a utilities supplier ...

Logicor date back to a time when it was easier to become an energy supplier and they had a couple of attempts at selling low-cost tariffs but it didn't work out. 

Logicor had some pretty tempting offers back before the energy price crunch. I very nearly became their customer in 2021 but their on-line sign-up failed and, by the time their CS staff got back to me, I'd joined Octopus instead.

Here's a contemporary thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6287793/logicor-energy/p1

And details of their offer at the time:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78517448/#Comment_78517448

QrizB said:

They're offering me 11.76p night, 14.17 day and 22.69 for the evening peak, with a 15p daily standing charge.

Also, they survived the winter of 2021/22 without going bust so they must've been doing something right.

MWT

QrizB said:

Also, they survived the winter of 2021/22 without going bust so they must've been doing something right.

I agree that they managed their affairs relatively prudently, but it was beginning to fall apart after that winter and the subsequent restatement of the 2022 accounts showed a loss rather than the original profit.

They had a couple of good runs at building a customer base but their real focus in the group business was elsewhere and exiting made sense for them. 

woodulike

Swipe said:

Just to add insult to injury

Is it likely to be a painful process with BG?

Shedman

woodulike said:

Swipe said:

Just to add insult to injury

Is it likely to be a painful process with BG?

I wouldn't bet against it from past experience.  Good luck. 

WiserMiser

woodulike said:

Swipe said:

Just to add insult to injury

Is it likely to be a painful process with BG?

Very much so.  But lots of opportunities for compo !

silvercar

WiserMiser said:

woodulike said:

Swipe said:

Just to add insult to injury

Is it likely to be a painful process with BG?

Very much so.  But lots of opportunities for compo !

It's whether the compo will balance out the extra costs of being stuck on the price cap - particularly for those who had a TOU tariff that they still want. Probably a large percentage of Tomato customers chose Tomato for this reason.