Energy & Utilities Insights
Insights
Actionable insights for the sector's most pressing topics
Challenges like rising debt, sustainability targets, and regulatory reforms are driving suppliers to fundamentally rethink how they operate. At the same time, these shifts present opportunities to differentiate, drive innovation, and enhance customer service. As organisations attempt to balance financial performance with compliance and customer satisfaction, staying ahead of competitors is crucial.
Leveraging the deep expertise of our industry specialists, we help energy and utilities providers to tackle these challenges, and capitalise on opportunities shaping the future of the sector.
INSIGHTS
Energy & Utilities
MHHS will depend on embedded engagement - Our practical framework
Engagement is a critical enabler of MHHS success: with 59% of core process being typically affected by MHHS proactive engagement is vital to protect operational and customer confidence.
How to Tackle the Energy Debt Crisis. Thoughts from BFY, EDF, E.ON Next and Utility Warehouse
Why does energy debt keep rising, and who’s responsible for reducing it? We gathered industry leaders from EDF, E.ON Next and Utility Warehouse in our latest webinar to talk things through. The webinar recording is available but here’s a summary of the frank and insightful discussion.
Podcast: MHHS is live - Are we ready for what's next? With Elexon's Helen Adey
We have released the second episode of our Expert Interview series, exploring the shift from MHHS delivery milestones to the long-term operational reality of a new settlement world.
Preparing commercially for a pivotal year in business energy
We set the context for what’s changing in B2B energy and where commercial performance is now won or lost. We explore the pressure points emerging across pricing accuracy, product clarity, platforms and routes to market. We also outline why operational performance is increasingly a core commercial differentiator, as suppliers look ahead to a more flexible, service-led future.
Podcast: Preparing for the Future of Prepay with Utilita's Louise Walsh
We've launched the first episode in our Expert Interview series, where we sit down with senior leaders from across the utilities sector, starting with Louise Walsh, Chief Customer Contact Officer at Utilita.
Why leadership is the catalyst for sustainable operational excellence
When organisations take an integrated approach, the results are tangible. As part of a broader customer service transformation, one energy supplier achieved a 63% uplift in leadership capability and a +34 point increase in NPS by combining leadership and operational excellence.
Energy Smart Rollout – What’s next for the metering ecosystem?
The smart meter rollout is entering a more demanding phase. While the next stage is still being finalised, expectations continue to tighten, with success increasingly judged not only on install rates, but on how well meters perform.
Domestic energy suppliers faced a £1.1bn cash coverage deficit in Q3-25
Our latest analysis of Ofgem’s credit balance data indicates that domestic energy suppliers faced a £1.1bn cash coverage deficit at the end of Q3-25. This marks the seventh consecutive quarter in which suppliers have had to finance a shortfall in net balances, indicating the ongoing challenges in maintaining capital adequacy.
Record energy debt of £4.48bn reinforces need for deeper, coordinated action
Domestic energy debt has climbed to £4.48bn in Ofgem’s latest update, a ~£55m rise in the last quarter and ~£660m higher than a year ago. It's clear that more is needed to take control of the problem, with pressure set to grow over winter.
New smart GSOP rules will cost suppliers over £100m per year
Smart meter performance has always mattered, but from early 2026, it will matter in an entirely different way. The introduction of new Guaranteed Standards of Performance rules for smart meters will turn what were previously frustrating customer experiences into immediate, automatic financial liabilities.
Reverse migration is a threat to customer experience and MHHS success
The first tranche of suppliers entering Market-Wide Half-Hourly Settlement (MHHS) go-live represents a significant milestone. This blog focuses on why reverse migrations carry real operational and customer-experience risks, what early adopters are already seeing, and what suppliers can do now to reduce disruption.
Three steps to improve collections as debt continues to rise
In this second article about reducing debt, we’re building on the short-term actions we shared in part one. We’re also featuring the stories and results from a few of our clients to help you take action, including how we delivered ~£50m benefit in 6 months. Being more proactive with your own debt will help you boost collections, improve systems and protect your organisation from future market changes, reforms and challenges.
Energy & Utilities
Meet the Team
Ian Barker
Managing Partner
Ian shapes the BFY vision and inspires our team to bring it to life, while remaining central to complex client engagements in Strategy, Commercial, and Operations.
Rachel Littlewood
Director
Rachel leads our operational and financial turnaround engagements, helping to solve complex operational challenges while maximising commercial performance and customer outcomes.
Kelly Payne
Director
Kelly helps clients achieve operational excellence to improve customer outcomes, employee engagement, and optimising cost to serve.
Kevin Scott
Director
Kevin leads client engagements with a laser focus on empowering clients to navigate large-scale events and market challenges.
Energy & Utilities
Our Impact
Strategic analysis identifies ~£103m in opportunities for energy retailer
We delivered strategic analysis for a large energy retailer, identifying up to ~£103m in incremental revenue opportunities, through a comprehensive Market Scan Analysis and Sales Channel Maturity Assessment.
Cash recovery initiatives deliver ~£275m benefit for large Energy supplier
Our debt team supported a large Energy supplier with recovering their cash position, achieving a total benefit of ~£275m through collaborative initiatives.
£8.5m cash collection for large energy retailer
We helped a large energy retailer to generate immediate in-year debt benefits through tactical interventions. Our programme delivered ~£4.5m in Bad Debt benefit and ~£8.5m in cash collection, all while maintaining customer and productivity measures within the operation.
Large energy supplier avoids ~£7.5m in complaints costs
We supported a large energy supplier with a transformation programme, looking at how they can manage their complaints inflow and address the growing backlog. The programme transformed their complaints capability and resulted in ~£7.5m in cost avoidance.
Collections improvements deliver ~£5m cash for Water retailer
We supported a B2B Water retailer with a series of collections improvements, achieving a cash uplift of ~£5m in five months.
Tactical debt improvements deliver ~£7m cash for large Energy retailer
A large Energy retailer was facing significant challenges with customer debt, requiring improvements to their collections processes to mitigate this. Their total debt was ~£100m at the time of engaging BFY, with communication gaps present across the customer debt journey.
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