The rollover problem
Business energy contracts don't end cleanly. When a fixed term lapses, most suppliers roll the customer onto an out-of-contract rate — deemed, variable, "standard terms," the language varies. These rates are almost always higher than what the same supplier offers a new switching customer: 30 to 60 percent more on unit rate alone. Suppliers aren't required to proactively warn business customers that they're approaching contract end, and many notices are buried in a routine statement nobody reads.
The broker problem
The traditional way out is a commercial broker — which means a call, a commission disclosure of variable quality, and a recommendation that may reflect which supplier pays the most, not which tariff suits you best. Ofgem has worked to tighten this with its TPI Code of Practice and proposed mandatory licensing. Progress has been made. The conflict baked into the phone-first model hasn't gone away.
The self-serve gap
Consumer customers have had self-serve comparison for two decades. Businesses haven't — for one structural reason: those platforms don't hold ECOES or Xoserve data licences. Without them, a site has to ask you to upload a bill or type a meter reference most people have never seen. That friction kills self-serve at step one.
What BuyEnergyOnline.uk does differently
We're operated by Telnergy Ltd, which holds active ECOES and Xoserve licences as part of its regulated TPI infrastructure. We retrieve your supply data from your postcode. You never hunt for a meter reference. The result is a self-serve business energy tool that works like a consumer one — because the data problem behind the friction has finally been solved.
Published June 2026 · Telnergy Ltd · Ofgem registered TPI since 2002