Thanks to increased demand and limited supply, amongst other influential factors, the UK energy market has fluctuated a lot since 2021, and rising utility bills are still a significant concern for many UK businesses today.
Unlike for households there is no price cap on business energy, and with Government support diminishing it could be a good time to review your existing arrangements.
Why are energy prices high?
There are typically a number of things that culminate in ‘expensive energy’, including:
- Heating Demand: As temperatures drop during the winter, there is a higher demand for heating fuels such as natural gas, heating oil, and electricity.
- Electricity Demand: In addition to heating, there is generally higher electricity consumption during the winter months. Days are shorter, and people tend to spend more time indoors, using lights, appliances, and electronic devices more frequently.
- Supply and Demand Dynamics: When demand for energy increases significantly, it can put pressure on the available supply. If supply doesn’t keep pace with demand, prices can rise due to the basic principles of supply and demand.
- Transportation Challenges: Cold weather conditions can sometimes impact the transportation and distribution of energy resources, leading to supply disruptions and potential price increases.
- Reduction of Crude Oil Production: A decrease in global crude oil production can lead to reduced supply, which may drive up oil prices. This, in turn, can impact the prices of various energy products such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil, and aviation fuel.
Supporting our clients to better manage their utility bills
We care about supporting our clients to make efficiencies within their business, and to save money wherever possible.
We have established a relationship with the leading cost-management App, Reducer, and in doing so continue to improve the service we are able to provide to the businesses we work with.
Reducer integrates with Xero and QuickBooks and, providing you upload your bills into your cloud accounting software, it can track your spend history and make recommendations for potential savings.
There is no fee associated with the service, and the reports Reducer provides are free of charge. Simply, their mission is to help businesses identify opportunities to save, support them to switch supplier and equip them with the tools they need to better manage their utility bills going forward.
Kevin Taylor, one of our team of cloud accounting advisers, comments: “This new relationship with Reducer is really exciting for us as a practice, and means we’re able to add another string to our bow when it comes to helping clients achieve their objectives, and to operate more cost-effectively.”
If you are an existing client interested in expanding the scope of the support we currently offer you, or you are a business looking for an ‘above and beyond’ service from your accountant, we would love to hear from you.
Kevin can connect you to Reducer, and discuss your wider cloud accounting requirements with you.
To talk to us about Reducer, or to discuss cloud accounting software more generally, contact us today.
