British Gas Business energy

Wednesday 6 July, 2011

By Garnet Roach - garnet@consumerchoices.co.uk

Whether you're looking for the cheapest energy tariff, a provider that will help you meet your efficiency targets or the latest in smart billing, you'll be able to find the right service with British Gas Business.

Sign-up to British Gas Business

Visit the British Gas Business website (www.britishgas.co.uk/business) or call 0800 310 2404 and speak to a specialist today.

About British Gas Business

British Gas Business is the business arm of the UK’s biggest energy provider, with more than 950,000 business customers.

It offers a huge range of solutions for small and medium businesses, up to larger corporations and has become a known and trusted name in the energy market since deregulation during the 1990s.

Today, British Gas Business is investing more than £1.5billion in renewable energy projects over the next five years as well as helping business customers get the most from their service - such as installing smart meters so you only ever pay for the energy you use.

British Gas Business tariffs

With British Gas Business you can choose to take gas, electricity or a dual fuel tariff from the provider.

It offers fixed-term, fixed-price tariffs so that you always know how much you're going to pay. You can choose either a one or two-year contract.

British Gas promises a 10% saving on your existing electricity renewal quote, and a saving of up to £600 when you sign-up to a gas tariff online.

You can also take advantage of up to £10,000 worth of savings on extra business benefits, such as AA breakdown cover, Parcelforce deliveries and AXA business insurance with British Gas Purchase Power.

British Gas also offers your business free energy efficiency advice, helping you save even more by reducing the amount of gas and electricity you use.

And if you have between two and 10 premises, British Gas can give you a quote that covers your whole business.

British Gas fuel mix

Fuel mix for Centrica, British Gas Business parent company:

Energy Source	Centrica	UK Average
Coal	15.8%	25.8%
Natural Gas	72.3%	47.7%
Nuclear	3.4%	18.0%
Renewables	6.8%	6.6%
Other Fuels	1.7%	1.9%

Billing & accounts

Estimated bills are a thing of the past with smart meters. Your smart meter will automatically send actual meter readings to British Gas, while giving you half-hourly updates so you can identify energy usage patterns and work out where your business could make savings. British Gas is currently in the process of trialling smart meters for small and medium businesses.

If you still use a traditional meter, you will need to provide British Gas with a meter reading if the provider cannot send someone to read it for you - otherwise you will receive an estimated bill.

You can choose to pay your British Gas bill by direct debit, BACS or by cheque. However, direct debit ensures your bills are always paid on time, cuts down on the admin and could even save you money.

Added extras

As well as working to save you money on your gas and electricity bills, British Gas Business also offers a huge number of additional services, including:

• Feed In Tariff - generate your own electricity to save money and even earn cash if you have any left over to feed into the National Grid
• Boiler maintenance and repair - don’t wait for an emergency, get complete boiler maintenance and repair cover from £16 a month
• Compliance and servicing - Maintenance, compliance, repair, inspection and testing to safeguard your business
• Carbon Healthcheck - British Gas claims it can help you cut consumption by 10%
• Legislative consultancy - make sure your business meets its carbon reduction requirements.

Switching energy supplier

When you move to a new location, you'll automatically be put on a “deemed” tariff. This means you have been “deemed” to have taken over the energy contract of the existing occupants.

You could find yourself paying standard gas and electricity prices - or even an inflated fee - which is why switching energy provider can save you so much.