More energy suppliers could go bust this winter potentially taking government payments intended for customers with them, the chief executive of British Gas owner Centrica has warned.
Chris O’Shea told Sky News that the UK energy market, regulated by Ofgem, offers “wealthy individuals” behind some retail suppliers a “free bet” to speculate, with other bill payers liable for the price of failure.
More than 30 retail suppliers have collapsed in the last 18 months as a consequence of soaring gas prices, and he said some remaining suppliers could technically be trading while insolvent this winter.
He also warned thatgovernment energy support, paid to suppliers in advance, could be vulnerable in the event of a collapse, adding to the cost of failure being shared by bill payers.
“The energy retail market has been loss making for a number of years and so there are a number of energy suppliers that are in a precarious financial position and that’s just getting worse every day,” he said.
“Every day that they make more losses they get in a worse position the risk of failure increases. And I really worry that we’re going to see more failures.
“We’ve learned a lot from some of the new entrants to the market, some of them have brought in some good practices, but by and large they’re owned by wealthy individuals who have free bet.
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“If this goes right, they will make even more money than they have today. And if it goes wrong, our customers have to pick up the cost – that cannot be right.”
The government has stepped in to support business and households with a cap on the maximum price for units of gas and electricity, reimbursing suppliers for the difference between that and the real cost of energy.
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Customer deposits at risk
Mr O’Shea said the decision to pay suppliers up-front meant that money was at risk in the event of collapse, along with customer deposits.
“The government gives [the payments] in advance and that increases the risk. If that supplier goes under, and have taken that government money before they’ve given it to consumers, then that will just increase the cost of failure.”
Mr O’Shea was speaking at the Easington Gas Terminal on Humberside as Centrica began drawing gas from the Rough offshore storage facility for the first time since it reopened in October to try to improve the UK’s energy resilience.
The current overcast weather has cut solar and wind power generation in recent days, increasing the price and demand for gas and prompting a call from the National Grid to increase supply.
“Rough is working exactly as it should, which is to bring that gas from the offshore storage facility, put it into the system, meaning that we can make sure that we’re the gas fired power stations running with the gas to people’s homes, and we keep prices down for consumers,” Mr O’Shea said.
“If that wasn’t here today we’d have to look for alternative sources of gas, or we’d have to look for ways to cut electricity consumption. But definitely the place would have gone up by the simple economics of supply and demand. If demand goes up and supply doesn’t go up, then prices increase. So it is keeping prices down, but it also means we don’t have to look elsewhere.”
Image: British Gas said the advert was filmed before the third COVID wave and industrial action
Rough is currently using only 20% of capacity but to increase needs £1bn of investment Centrica says relies on reaching a deal with government to guarantee a return, and the company would like to convert the storage field to hold hydrogen, doubling the investment required.
Windfall tax worries
Mr O’Shea said that Centrica is committed to the UK but warned that the recent increase in the windfall tax put oil and gas developments at risk, and could deter inward investment.
“A windfall tax doesn’t really create the right environment for investment into the UK. So I worry about the potential long term impacts on investment.
“I think undoubtedly what happens is that for companies that might have marginal projects that just about made economic sense before a windfall tax, those projects are unlikely to be helped by a windfall tax, and therefore there are several projects that may not come because of this.”
A New York-listed company with a valuation of more than $21bn is to snap up Space NK, the British high street beauty chain.
Sky News has learnt that Ulta Beauty, which operates close to 1,500 stores, is on the verge of a deal to buy Space NK from existing owner Manzanita Capital.
Ulta Beauty is understood to have registered an acquisition vehicle at Companies House in recent weeks.
Royal Mail had repeatedly failed to meet the so-called universal service obligation to deliver post within set periods of time.
Those delivery targets are now being revised downwards.
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Rather than having to have 93% of first-class mail delivered the next day, 90% will be legally allowed.
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The sale of Royal Mail was approved in December
The target for second-class mail deliveries will be lowered from 98.5% to arrive within three working days to 95%.
A review of stamp prices has also been announced by Ofcom amid concerns over affordability, with a consultation set to be launched next year.
It’s good news for Royal Mail and its new owner, the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. Ofcom estimates the changes will bring savings of between £250m and £425m.
A welcome change?
Unsurprisingly, the company welcomed the announcement.
“It is good news for customers across the UK as it supports the delivery of a reliable, efficient and financially sustainable universal service,” said Martin Seidenberg, the group chief executive of Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distribution Services.
“It follows extensive consultation with thousands of people and businesses to ensure that the postal service better reflects their needs and the realities of how customers send and receive mail today.”
Citizens Advice, however, doubted whether services would improve as a result of the changes.
“Today, Ofcom missed a major opportunity to bring about meaningful change,” said Tom MacInnes, the director of policy at Citizens Advice.
“Pushing ahead with plans to slash services and relax delivery targets in the name of savings won’t automatically make letter deliveries more reliable or improve standards.”
Acknowledging long delays “where letters have taken weeks to arrive”, Ofcom said it set Royal Mail new enforceable targets so 99% of mail has to be delivered no more than two days late.
Changing habits
Less than a third of letters are sent now than 20 years ago, and it is forecast to fall to about a fifth of the letters previously sent.
According to Ofcom research, people want reliability and affordability more than speedy delivery.
Royal Mail has been loss-making in recent years as revenues fell.
In response to Ofcom’s changes, a government spokesperson said: “The public expects a well-run postal service, with letters arriving on time across the country without it costing the earth. With the way people use postal services having changed, it’s right the regulator has looked at this.
“We now need Royal Mail to work with unions and posties to deliver a service that people expect, and this includes maintaining the principle of one price to send a letter anywhere in the UK”.
Ofcom said it has told Royal Mail to hold regular meetings with consumer bodies and industry groups to hear their experiences implementing the changes.
An industry body has warned that the equivalent of more than one pub a day is set to close across Great Britain this year.
According to the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), an estimated 378 venues will shut down across England, Wales and Scotland.
This would amount to more than 5,600 direct job losses, the industry body warns. It has called for a reduction in the cumulative tax and regulatory burden for the hospitalitysector – including cutting business rates and beer duty.
The body – representing members that brew 90% of British beer and own more than 20,000 pubs – said such measures would slow the rate at which bars are closing.
BBPA chief executive Emma McClarkin said that while pubs are trading well, “most of the money that goes into the till goes straight back out in bills and taxes”.
“For many, it’s impossible to make a profit, which all too often leads to pubs turning off the lights for the last time,” she said.
“When a pub closes, it puts people out of a job, deprives communities of their heart and soul, and hurts the local economy.”
She urged the government to “proceed with meaningful business rates reform, mitigate these eye-watering new employment and EPR (extended producer responsibility) costs, and cut beer duty”.
“We’re not asking for special treatment, we just want the sector’s rich potential unleashed,” she added.
The government has said it plans to reform the current business rates system, saying in March that an interim report on the measure would be published this summer.
From April, relief on property tax – that came in following the COVID-19 pandemic – was cut from 75% to 40%, leading to higher bills for hospitality, retail and leisure businesses.
The rate of employer National Insurance Contributions also rose from 13.8% to 15% that month, and the wage threshold was lowered from £9,100 to £5,000, under measures announced by Rachel Reeves in the October budget.