In recent years, businesses have faced increasingly volatile energy markets, driven by geopolitical events as well as supply and demand fundamentals. As a result, timing energy purchases is becoming increasingly challenging for consumers.
Amidst this uncertainty, flexible procurement gives larger energy users greater control over how and when they purchase energy, providing more options to respond to changing market conditions.
With fifty years of industry experience, we have honed our expertise in delivering customised, risk-managed flexible energy procurement solutions to meet our clients’ evolving needs.
A flexible energy contract puts a framework in place that allows you to determine how and when to purchase your wholesale energy.
When prices are falling, positions can be left open to the markets and when prices are rising, energy can be purchased to protect you against increasing price levels.
The key to flexible contracts is understanding your aims and requirements from your energy contracts.
We will work with key stakeholders in your organisation to understand your needs and develop a bespoke risk management strategy to allow you to achieve your aims, whilst balancing risk against opportunity.
A bespoke strategy will be designed to meet your needs and risk appetite and will be captured in a clear risk management policy.
EIC will use our bespoke systems to ensure that your risk management strategy is managed in line with your requirements.
EIC will work closely with you to make sure that flexible contracts are tendered to meet your needs and minimise costs.
We will build a bespoke tender to be sent to suppliers to ensure that offers are aligned with your needs.
Since EIC has no preferred suppliers, we will review all offers based on how well they meet your requirements and the fees that the suppliers offer.
Our thorough tendering process will look at more than just costs, ensuring that offers are compared on a like-for-like basis, taking into account your requirements and maximising trading flexibility.
Using this process, we have achieved significant contractual cost savings for our clients. This includes savings of 84% on supplier fees for one client compared to their previous contract.
EIC combines bespoke procurement and risk management strategies with dedicated account support, thorough supplier tendering and ongoing market intelligence.
Your procurement and risk management strategy is developed around your organisation’s aims, requirements and risk appetite, rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach.
Your agreed strategy will provide a structured approach to balancing risk against opportunity, with EIC’s bespoke systems used to help ensure it continues to be managed in line with your requirements.
Having no preferred suppliers, EIC is able to assess all relevant offers according to how well your requirements will be met, the fees offered and the level of trading flexibility available. Our tendering process has delivered significant contractual savings for clients.
You will have a dedicated Flexible Account Manager as your primary point of contact responsible for tendering your supply contracts, creating indicative energy budgets, dealing with consumption queries and managing interactions with your suppliers. Additionally, an Account Executive will be assigned to look after your day-to-day queries such as change of tenancies, meter installations/removals and ensuring that your meters are registered by new suppliers if you change your energy supplier.
EIC will provide you with regular position reports to ensure that you have a clear overview of your position throughout your contract. We will also provide you with regular market intelligence reports, ensuring that you are informed of prevailing market conditions and drivers as well as industry news.
Our flexible energy procurement process is very straightforward and convenient
You complete the contact form or call 0208 835 3535
We get in touch with you to understand your energy requirements, aims and risk appetite. We may request information about your business’s energy usage to help us develop a bespoke risk management strategy.
We will create a bespoke tender based on your needs and invite offers from across the supplier market. As we have no preferred suppliers, each proposal is assessed against consistent criteria, considering supplier fees, contractual suitability and the level of trading flexibility available.
You will receive a tailored proposal outlining the flexible energy solutions available and how they align with your organisation’s objectives and risk appetite.
What distinguishes EIC Partnership from other energy consultancies is our unwavering commitment to tailoring our services to perfectly align with our clients’ unique needs.
“Thank you for the service you have delivered for the University since your appointment. It is rare to receive truly excellent and consistent customer service, yet EIC seem to offer it with ease. We have received continued good service, often going above and beyond to genuinely help us move forward as an organisation. This sets you apart, so I urge you to strive to maintain such service and look forward to working with you over the longer term.”
Dan Fernbank, Energy Manager at University of Reading
“We appointed EIC to be our procurement consultant in 2012. Since then they have tendered and negotiated a number of energy contracts on our behalf, as well as advising on strategy and general energy queries. We spend over £2.2 million a year on energy so it was important that our chosen consultant was as good as the sales pitch and could deliver the services we required. Our Account team is knowledgeable of the industry, they respond quickly to queries, liaise with suppliers on our behalf and give good advice. The Market Intelligence is invaluable and keeps me up to date with price movements.”
Alison Kitchener, Business Project Manager at Heathcoat Fabrics Limited
The core difference between a fixed and a flexible supply contract is how and when energy is purchased.
A fixed supply means that the cost is fixed on the date the contract is saved and the contract maintains a constant price for the duration, offering a high level of budget certainty.
In contrast, a flexible energy contract gives you greater control over your wholesale energy purchasing, allowing you to buy in tranches and adjust your position over time rather than committing everything at once.
The choice depends on whether a business prefers price certainty or wants to accept some risk with the potential to benefit from price opportunities over time.
No.
It’s crucial to distinguish between risk and certainty when considering energy contracts. Fixed supply contracts offer greater certainty with a fixed tariff for the contract’s duration. However, relying solely on a single, unchanging purchasing decision from a volatile commodity market poses its own risks, especially when transitioning from one fixed contract to the next.
A flexible strategy should be tailored to your specific requirements and risk appetite. We will work with your organisation’s stakeholders to develop a bespoke risk management strategy that reflects your organisation’s objectives and risk appetite. The agreed strategy will be captured in a risk management policy, providing a clear framework for how the strategy will be managed.
At EIC, we leverage robust, in-house tools and bespoke systems to effectively implement risk-managed strategies, backed by a proven track record of success.
There is no one-size-fits-all procurement strategy.
The key is to develop a customised trading strategy that aligns with your specific needs and remains adaptable to ensure it consistently meets your requirements.
More flexibility is generally advantageous. At EIC, all our clients benefit from personalised trading strategies.
It doesn’t have to.
Your input is a necessity, but it’s equally required in a fixed procurement strategy, where market monitoring is essential to determine the right time to secure a contract.
Your initial input and the involvement of key stakeholders helps us understand your priorities and establish the parameters for how your flexible strategy should be managed.
Once these are agreed, a dedicated Flexible Account Manager will oversee the day-to-day delivery of the service, from tendering supply contracts and preparing indicative budgets to resolving consumption queries and coordinating with suppliers on your behalf.
Discover energy cost savings through flexible energy solutions.
Contact EIC for a consultation to determine if flexible energy procurement is the right fit for your business.
Contact us today at 0208 836 3535 or by submitting the contact form, and take the initial step toward harnessing market volatility to your advantage.
Find out why hundreds of businesses in the UK choose us and stay. Get in touch with EIC for a consultation on the advantages of flexible energy procurement.
With a century of combined experience in carbon and energy strategy, EIC Partnership is here to help you manage today and plan for tomorrow.
Head Office
Monarch House
7-9 Stafford Road
Wallington
SM6 9AN
Redditch
3 Brooklands
Moons Moat Drive
Redditch
B98 9DW
EIC Partnership is the trading name for:
Energy Intelligence Centre Limited
Registered Number: 11899462 | Registered Address: 7-9 Stafford Road, Wallington, SM6 9AN | VAT Registration: 318 2851 01
ESS (Utility Consultants) Limited
Registered Number: 06585789 | Registered Address: 7-9 Stafford Road, Wallington, SM6 9AN | VAT Registration: 679 9865 35
The Monarch Partnership Limited
Registered Number: 04346309 | Registered Address: 7-9 Stafford Road, Wallington, SM6 9AN | VAT Registration: 793 6132 10)
