A new push to clean up Britain’s business energy market has launched with a blunt message: trust has collapsed and transparency has to be rebuilt.
The Trust and Transparency in Business Energy Charter, known as the TNT Charter, was unveiled yesterday with backing from Labour MP Sarah Edwards and aims to reset how small businesses are treated by energy suppliers, brokers and intermediaries.
It sets out a voluntary code calling for clear pricing, fair sales practices and basic protections for firms that have too often been left exposed to opaque contracts and aggressive debt collection.
The Charter was developed by Sarah Edwards alongside Startup Coalition and energy consultant Tim Hipperson and is rooted in real-world failures.
In May last year, a café in Tamworth was hit with a £10,000 back bill despite paying its energy costs in good faith. After Ms Edwards intervened, an independent review found thousands of pounds of overcharging.
The Energy Ombudsman later ruled in the café’s favour but awarded just £200, exposing how weak redress remains for businesses.
That case is far from unique. Small firms across hospitality and retail report being trapped in complex tariffs, mis-sold contracts and unregulated broker arrangements with little clarity over standing charges or non-commodity costs.
The Charter lands as pressure mounts on government and Ofgem to act.
Businesses in the UK pay around 30% more for electricity than European competitors and nearly half of small firms now say energy is the biggest driver of rising costs.
Structural problems include thousands of tariff permutations, poor billing formats and industrial discounts that shift costs onto smaller users.
The TNT Charter sets out principles on pricing transparency, ethical sales, complaint handling and protections for vulnerable or inexperienced businesses.
It also urges regulators to use existing powers to standardise billing and tighten oversight of intermediaries and brokers.
Supporters say restoring trust could lower costs, improve competition and return billions to the productive economy.
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