Interim findings about businesses’ experiences of the energy market, including experiences with their energy supplier and the impacts of energy prices.
Main points
More than half of businesses in the survey (58%), said they were concerned about the impact of energy prices on their business, with 42% reporting they were very concerned.
Almost two thirds (60%) of businesses were satisfied with the overall service they had received from their supplier with 13% saying that they were dissatisfied.
The main reasons consumers said they were dissatisfied included the service being too expensive, poor customer service, poor communication and billing issues.
Of those that had contacted their energy supplier, 55% said that they found it easy to contact their energy supplier and 18% said they found it difficult to contact their energy supplier.
Just over one in ten (12%) reported that they had made a complaint to their supplier.
The top reasons for complaints were issues around billing and meter issues, such as receiving estimated bills despite having a smart meter and consumers feeling that they were overcharged, for instance consumers feeling they were charged incorrectly or received unexpected or hidden charges.
Methodology
Ofgem and DESNZ commissioned IFF Research to run non-domestic consumer research. This consisted of a telephone survey of 1,000 non-domestic energy consumers from across Great Britain in July 2023, followed by 30 qualitative interviews in September to October 2023.
This report is an interim report and presents emerging findings from the research. The full findings from this research will be published in early 2024.
Where we refer to ‘non-domestic consumers’, we mean businesses who operate out of non-domestic premises, such as pubs or restaurants, and who have a non-domestic energy contract. This excludes businesses that operate out of a home (domestic property).
