Blog Post
Challenger Energy Suppliers enter the Big Six
Matt Olney • Apr 30, 2020
The 'Big Six' in the UK has experienced a shakeup in the first quarter of 2020 with two ‘challenger’ brands leapfrogging the competition to join the top tier of energy suppliers.
Who are the Big Six energy suppliers?
The largest UK energy suppliers, also known as the Big Six, are large companies that provide 95% of gas and electricity to domestic households in the British market. As the UK's largest energy companies, they are: British Gas, E.ON, EDF Energy, nPower, Scottish Power and SSD.
Changing places
According to Cornwall Insight’s Domestic market share survey for the first quarter of the year, the Big Six rankings have experienced a shakeup never seen before.
OVO Energy has soared into second place following a merger between itself and SSE and rapid growth from Bulb has seen it leap from Npower to take the sixth-place spot.
OVO saw its customer base increase dramatically after it concluded its merger with SSE. The move added 5.6 million new customers to triple its existing customer base.
The company now holds a 14.1% of the dual-fuel share market and its dual-fuel share is now higher than that of E.ON which has now fallen to third place.
The second major change in the Big Six positions has seen Bulb move ahead of Npower in terms of dual-fuel accounts, climbing to 6th place.
Over the last year, Bulb has seen its customer base gain an extra 200,000 dual fuel customers via organic growth. Its customer base was also bolstered after it took on 9,000 customers via the Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) process
from GnERGY.
The successes of OVO and Bulb prove that a challenger energy supplier can rise to the top of the pile and seriously challenge the big players on the market.
Introducing cheaper and more cost-effective tariffs, solid customer support and establishing processes is key to the success of any energy supply business.
To learn how to start your own Energy Supply Business click HERE
Covid-19 to impact rankings?
“These new positions are not expected to endure when E.ON UK takes on Npower’s domestic customers. Collectively, the two suppliers held 15.9% domestic dual fuel share, which would put E.ON UK into the second position under the current customer base. Over the next few months, we expect to pick up the impact of Covid-19 in the supply market. Some suppliers that have previously grown through face-to-face sales may be reassessing their route to market, while others will be facing greater challenges in maintaining cashflow during this challenging period,” said Katie Hickford, an analyst at Cornwall Insight.
Further Reading
Why is now a good time for smaller energy suppliers to get new customers?
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Through our energy market consultancy services, and the software we’ve developed, we’re supporting new UK electricity and gas suppliers get set up and start supplying.
For more information on how to start and manage an energy company, get in touch
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