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Last updated September 2026.
What multi-site energy management involves
You’ve got a depot in Leeds that renews in March, a Cardiff office that renews in October, and a new unit in Bristol that’s been on whatever rate came with the lease since the day you took the keys. Somebody in finance keeps a spreadsheet. It was accurate about two years ago.
That’s what most multi-site estates look like when we first see them, and it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Energy is rarely anyone’s main job. What we do is turn it into one picture. Every meter on a list, every contract with a date next to it, every bill checked against what was agreed, and one plan for when and how the whole estate buys.
Clearsight does this for businesses with anywhere from two premises up to a national estate. Everything runs off a single letter of authority, so you sign once rather than once per supplier. We check what you’re being charged today, tender the estate or the parts of it that make sense to buy together, and then hold the renewal calendar so no site drifts onto out-of-contract rates because a reminder went to someone who left.
It’s a managed service, not a comparison site. You still get the market comparison. You also get someone whose job is to remember which site ends when.
Why bills vary so much between your sites
Finance directors usually spot this first. Two branches doing roughly the same thing, and one pays a noticeably higher unit rate than the other. It’s rarely the supplier being inconsistent. Four things are stacking up, and only some of them are yours to change.
| What differs | Why it moves the bill | Can you change it |
|---|---|---|
| Network region | Electricity distribution charges are set per DNO region and gas transportation charges per distribution zone. A site in Glasgow and a site in London carry different network costs before any supplier adds a margin. | No. It comes with the postcode. |
| Meter type | Half-hourly electricity sites are priced on their actual usage pattern. Non-half-hourly sites are priced on a profile class. Two similar buildings can quote differently purely because of which meter each one has. | Sometimes. A meter upgrade can change how a site is priced. |
| Contract date | Each site was signed on a different day, into a different wholesale market. A contract fixed in a quiet month and one fixed during a spike can sit a long way apart for no operational reason at all. | Yes. Aligning end dates is the whole point of a portfolio review. |
| Deemed rates | New or acquired sites often sit on deemed or out-of-contract rates for months because nobody knew the meter existed. These typically run 50 to 80 percent above a negotiated rate. | Yes, and quickly. Signing a contract ends them. |
The first job in any review is separating the variation you can do something about from the variation that’s just geography. Our business electricity and business gas pages explain the regional side, and the city pages under each one go into the local networks.
Thornton Facilities Management
A facilities management business with utilities across many client sites, taken through a full procurement review. Read the Thornton Facilities Management case study.
One contract or many
There are three ways to buy for an estate. The right answer is usually a mix, and it changes as sites open and close.
| Approach | How it works | When it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Align the end dates | Bring every site onto the same renewal date, even if that means a short first contract for some meters. From then on the whole estate renews in one exercise. | Almost every estate. It’s the single biggest time saving available. |
| Buy as a portfolio | Once dates line up, suppliers price the estate as one volume. Larger combined consumption tends to earn sharper terms and one set of paperwork. Each site keeps its own MPAN or MPRN and its own bill. | Groups with similar sites and similar usage patterns. |
| Buy flexibly | Buy in tranches across the year rather than fixing once, spreading the timing risk. | Estates above about 500 MWh a year, or anyone who’d rather not bet the whole portfolio on one afternoon. |
Some sites should stay out of the basket. A premises about to close, a lease with nine months left, or a site with a very different usage pattern from the rest can be cheaper on its own. Part of the review is deciding which meters belong together, and being honest about the ones that don’t.
How a multi-site review works with Clearsight
Opening, closing and moving sites
Estates don’t stand still. A new branch opens on a deemed contract because the meter came with the lease. A closed site keeps billing because nobody sent a final read. A relocation triggers a change of tenancy at both addresses on the same day.
Each of those has a fixed procedure and a short window. New sites need a contract before the first bill lands. Closing sites need a final meter reading and a written end date. Moves need change of tenancy forms at both premises. Handled as they happen they’re routine. Found eighteen months later they’re the most common source of overpayment we see in an estate.
Water, waste and card payments across the estate
The same portfolio logic works for water, where every business site in England and Scotland can choose its retailer, and for commercial waste and card payment services. Most multi-site businesses bring water in on the second pass once energy is settled, because the same LOA and the same site list do most of the work.
How we are paid
By the supplier, through a commission built into the unit rate. There’s no separate fee for the review, the tender or the ongoing management, and no obligation to go ahead once you’ve seen the numbers. The full explanation is on our how we make our money page.
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Frequently asked questions
How do multi-site businesses manage energy contracts efficiently?
By treating the estate as one portfolio. List every meter, line the contract end dates up so the whole estate renews together, tender it as one volume or a small number of baskets, and keep a single renewal calendar. A broker that holds that calendar for you removes the part that goes wrong most often, which is a site quietly rolling onto out-of-contract rates.
Our energy bills vary wildly across office locations. Why?
Four usual causes. Different network regions carry different distribution charges. Different meter types are priced differently. Each site was signed on a different day into a different wholesale market. And new or acquired sites often sit on deemed rates. A portfolio audit separates the variation you can fix from the variation that’s just geography.
What should a multi-site company look for in a business utility broker?
Portfolio experience, a single letter of authority covering all sites, bill validation as standard, a clear explanation of how the broker is paid, and evidence of managing renewals across an estate rather than one meter at a time. Ask how they handle site openings and closures, because that’s where multi-site costs leak.
How do you compare energy brokers that specialise in multi-site management?
Ask each one the same three questions. How would you structure the estate, as one portfolio, baskets or flexible purchasing, and why. What does your ongoing management include after the switch. And how are you paid. The answers tell you more than any league table.
Do we need energy management software for multiple locations?
Not necessarily. For most estates a maintained site list, monthly bill validation and a renewal calendar do the job, and a managed broker provides those. Software earns its place when you want half-hourly consumption data across sites for efficiency work, which is a different project from procurement.
Which utility suppliers work well for UK retail chains with many sites?
The ones that can price an estate as a portfolio, bill each site separately, and handle frequent openings and closures without drama. That’s a shortlist rather than a single name, and it changes with the wholesale market. We tender across the suppliers on our panel and show you the comparison for your sites.
Can you get business energy quotes for multiple locations at once?
Yes. Send us a list of sites with their MPANs or MPRNs, or sign one letter of authority and we’ll gather them from your current suppliers. We quote the estate together and site by site so you can see both.
Need Help? Get in touch
Call us on 020 8036 5715, or email us.