We are a broker, so treat this as an argument rather than a neutral assessment. What we can do is set out honestly what a broker does, what it costs you, where the saving genuinely comes from, and the situations where you would be better off doing it yourself. Plenty of businesses do not need one, and we would rather say so than waste your afternoon.
The short version
- The saving is rarely a secret rate. It is access, timing and not drifting onto deemed rates.
- The time saving is the bigger one for most small businesses, and the one nobody prices.
- A broker is paid by commission built into your unit rate. There is no version without it.
- You should see that figure before you sign. If you cannot, that is the problem, not the commission.
- You probably do not need one if you are tiny, tied in, or genuinely enjoy doing it yourself.
On this page
Where the money actually comes from
People assume a broker saves money by having a secret cheap rate. That is not really it. The saving comes from four much duller places.
- Not drifting onto deemed or out of contract rates. This is the big one and it dwarfs the rest. Letting a contract lapse is the single most expensive thing a business can do with its energy, and the main job of a broker is making sure it never happens. Our post on deemed and out of contract rates covers what that actually costs.
- Access to more of the market. Some suppliers quote business energy through brokers rather than running their own small business sales operation. You cannot always ring them yourself and get a price.
- Timing. Wholesale prices move. A broker watching your renewal window can place a contract on a better day than the one your renewal letter happens to land on.
- Getting the shape right. Fixed or pass-through, term length, whether your usage profile suits one supplier more than another. Picking the wrong shape costs more than picking the wrong supplier.
Being straight about this: on a single small meter with simple usage, the difference between a good broker and a diligent owner ringing three suppliers is often modest. The gap widens with multiple sites, higher consumption, half-hourly meters and anything non-standard. That is where the specialist knowledge earns its place.
The time nobody counts
For most small businesses this is the larger saving, and it never appears in a comparison.
Doing it properly yourself means gathering your MPAN and MPRN, finding twelve months of usage, approaching suppliers individually, getting quotes that expire within days, comparing them on a like-for-like basis including standing charges, checking the contract terms, and then doing the paperwork. Then repeating the whole thing in a year.
That is not difficult work. It is just work, and it is the sort that gets postponed until the renewal date passes, which is exactly how businesses end up on out of contract rates. The most common way a broker saves you money is by doing the admin you would otherwise keep putting off.
There is a second half to it: when something goes wrong afterwards, you have somebody to ring who already knows your account. Our post on what happens when your bill is wrong covers what that is actually worth, and what a broker genuinely can and cannot fix.
What it costs you
A broker is paid a commission by the supplier, normally built into your unit rate as an uplift measured in fractions of a penny per kWh. That is how the entire market works and there is no version of a broked contract without one.
That arrangement is not a problem in itself. A broker doing real work deserves paying. It becomes a problem in exactly two situations:
- You cannot see the figure, so you have no way of telling a modest fee from an enormous one.
- It is applied unevenly across the quotes you are shown, which quietly changes which supplier looks cheapest and makes the comparison meaningless.
Since October 2024, broker fees must be shown in the principal terms of non-domestic energy contracts, so for any recent contract the figure should be visible to you. Our post on commission disclosure and letters of authority sets out the rules and where they stop.
What about going direct?
Sometimes it is the right answer, and anyone who tells you never is selling.
| Going direct suits | A broker suits |
|---|---|
| A single small meter with steady usage | Multiple sites, or meters on different end dates |
| Someone who enjoys the process and will diarise it | Anyone who has ever let a renewal slide |
| A business already on a rate it has checked properly | Half-hourly metering and capacity charges |
| Where you have a genuine relationship with a supplier | Moving premises, or taking on a new site |
Note what is not in the left column: "to avoid paying commission". Going direct does not remove a margin from your unit rate, it just means the supplier keeps it rather than sharing it. You are not buying at cost either way.
When you do not need a broker
Worth saying plainly, because it is the part brokers skip.
- You are mid-contract with a long time to run. There is nothing useful to do until your renewal window opens. Anyone pressing you to switch now is not acting in your interest.
- You are on a rate you have genuinely checked recently and it stood up.
- Your usage is tiny. On a very small meter the absolute saving may not justify anyone's time, including yours.
- You have the time and the inclination. Some business owners are good at this and enjoy it. That is a perfectly sensible reason not to use a broker.
What we will do in those cases is tell you, and ask you to come back about three months before your end date.
Choosing one properly
If you do use a broker, the questions worth asking are short.
- What commission are you earning, and what does it add to my unit rate? A figure in pence per kWh is the answer you want.
- Is it the same across every option you have shown me?
- Which redress scheme are you a member of? It should be answered immediately.
- What does the letter of authority let you do, and when does it expire?
- Will you tell me if I should stay where I am?
None of those are hostile. A broker operating properly answers all five in a couple of minutes.
Where we stand on this: we are a broker on energy, not a supplier, so your supply contract is with the energy supplier. The broker on our energy arrangements is Evolve Online Tech, which is registered with the Energy Ombudsman. Our commission is written down before you sign anything, on every option, and we will tell you when the answer is to stay put.
Find out whether it is worth it for you
Send us a recent bill. We will tell you what you are paying against the market, what we would be paid if you moved, and whether it is worth doing at all. If you are already on a good rate we will say so and tell you when to come back.