The low price of oil is being credited for a sales increase at a North West energy procurement specialist.
Businesswise Solutions, based at Nelson in East Lancashire, recorded sales of £3.5 million in 2015 — up from £1.5 million in the previous 12 months. It celebrated its fifth anniversary in 2015, and it recently entered an exclusive deal with DONG Energy.
Managing director Frazer Durris (pictured) said that the record growth was down to companies taking advantage of the 12-year low in oil prices by ‘forward buying’ their energy up to five years ahead.
He said: “The canny businesses have seen the price of oil fall as low as $28 a barrel and, with our support, acted upon it. During 2015 alone, we secured £3.3 million of forward savings for our customers, and we expect that figure to increase significantly as we move into 2016.
“Our sales book has gone up by 135% in 12 months — for a lot of reasons. Clearly, seeing the cost of a barrel of oil reach $28 has been a significant factor, prompting customers to ‘ring-fence’ their future energy requirements at these historically low prices. We’ve also launched a new on-line portal called Utility-i, which enables customers to see their energy consumption in real time on an easy-to-read dashboard. That has helped us move into bigger markets.
“As part of the deal with DONG, even businesses that are currently getting their energy supply from someone else can forward-buy their future energy until 2021, providing their existing contract finishes no later than the latter part of 2018. To secure a partnership with DONG Energy reflects our entrepreneurial approach. Ultimately, we’ve delivered by putting deals on the table.”