Nearly 80 per cent boost in SMEs switching energy supplier in October

The expiration of many SME energy supply contracts in October 2023 led to a spike in supplier switching that month.

According to a new report by ElectraLink, an industry body that manages the energy supply switching process in Great Britain, 269,000 changes of supplier (CoS) were completed last month – 79 per cent more than October 2022, 21 per cent more than September 2023, and the highest monthly total since switching crashed in late 2021.

Every October, an increased number of businesses switch energy supplier as their energy supply contracts come to an end and they negotiate new deals with their existing or another supplier. In October last year, ElectraLink found that CoS had increased 59 per cent in one month because of this trend.

Analysts further identified that domestic CoS decreased slightly between September and October 2023, potentially due to standard variable tariffs decreasing with the latest Ofgem price cap change.

All switching types increased compared to the previous month. Other to Other CoS was the runaway winning category in terms of month-on-month increase rates, almost tripling between September and October.

• Large to Large switches reached 132,000 – seven per cent more than September 2023 and 49 per cent of October 2023’s total CoS completed,
• Large to Other switches totalled 54,000 – eight per cent more than September 2023 and 20 per cent of October 2023’s total CoS completed,
• Other to Large switches reached 44,000 – 26 per cent more than September 2023 and 17 per cent of October 2023’s total CoS completed,
• And Other to Other switches landed at 38,000 – 187 per cent more than September 2023 and 14 per cent of October 2023’s total CoS completed.