Business energy brokers, explained

Not yet, but it is coming. The government confirmed in October 2025 that Ofgem will regulate brokers and other third-party intermediaries, and Ofgem is reviewing the market during 2026 with its first proposals expected in 2027. Clearsight took part in one of Ofgem’s stakeholder roundtables this summer. Read our news piece on the roundtable and what the rules will mean.

A business energy broker tenders your electricity, gas, water or waste contract across a panel of suppliers, compares offers on total cost rather than unit rate alone, handles the switching paperwork, and monitors the contract so the renewal does not lapse.

Most UK business energy brokers are paid a commission by the supplier, collected as a small uplift on the unit rate over the life of the contract. It is not invoiced to the customer separately.

Yes. A comparison site returns a list of prices and leaves the rest to you. A broker runs the tender, checks the contract terms, manages the switch and stays with the account afterwards.

A broker handles procurement and is paid by the supplier. A consultant advises on strategy, purchasing and compliance and is paid by the business. Larger or more complex portfolios tend to justify a consultant.

Check how long the company has been registered at Companies House, whether it publishes its commission, whether it appears on independent review platforms, and whether it will confirm the commission in writing before you sign.

Some can. Clearsight Energy handles business electricity, gas, water, waste collection and card payment terminals, which gives a business one renewal calendar instead of several.

Yes, and that’s usually the right time to do it. Suppliers will price a contract that starts on the day your current one finishes, so we can tender and agree the new deal months ahead and simply line the dates up. The one thing to watch is your termination window. Most suppliers want written notice between 30 and 180 days before the end date, and we serve that as part of the switch.

You sign one letter of authority, which lets us pull your contract details and consumption from your current supplier. We tender across our panel and show you the quotes side by side, with the annual cost rather than just the unit rate. You choose. We serve notice on the old contract, manage the transfer, and diarise the next renewal. Nothing physical changes at your premises and the transfer itself can go through in as little as five working days once notice has cleared.

Ask how they’re paid and whether they’ll show you the commission on your quote. Ask how many suppliers they actually tender to. Ask what happens after the switch, because bill validation and a renewal calendar are where most of the value sits. Check whether they handle water and waste as well as energy, and read the reviews. A broker that sends you a single quote with a deadline on it is a sales operation, not a procurement service.

It depends almost entirely on where you’re starting from. A business sitting on out-of-contract or deemed rates, which typically run 50 to 80 percent above a negotiated price, has the most to gain. A business already on a well-timed fixed contract may gain more from bill validation and a better renewal than from the headline rate. Our case studies show the range, from The Cause, an Ayrshire events business that saved £3,832 over three years, to Thornton Facilities Management, with a forecast saving of more than £320,000 across a multi-site estate.

By taking your actual consumption from the last twelve months and running it against your current unit rate and standing charge to get a true annual cost, then doing the same for each tendered quote. That gives a like-for-like comparison rather than a headline pence-per-kWh figure. A bill audit runs alongside it, checking past invoices for meter, VAT and Climate Change Levy errors that can be refunded.

No. You can approach suppliers directly, gather quotes yourself and manage the notice period and transfer on your own. What a broker adds is coverage of the market in one exercise, someone to handle the paperwork and the objections, and a renewal calendar so the next end date doesn’t catch you out. Our broker versus going direct page weighs it up honestly.

By treating the estate as one portfolio. One letter of authority covers every site, every meter goes on a single list with its contract end date, and the renewal dates are aligned so the whole estate tenders in one exercise rather than a dozen. Our multi-site business energy page explains how that works in practice.