Ovo Energy: Growth and Service

Sometimes, with the large energy companies, you feel as if you are just a number. Impersonal service and high prices are all par for the course, so it’s no wonder that so many of us are looking for other alternatives.

Fortunately, there are some energy companies that still build their business on customer service and value. Ovo Energy is one of these – they are a breath of fresh air compared to the big six. They are a small, independent UK energy provider, and have been building a reputation for happy customers.

Taking a different point of view

Perhaps one of the reasons that Ovo Energy is different is that its founder didn’t begin his career in the energy industry. He claims that this set him free from preconceived ideas about how things should be done, and allowed him to focus on taking the customer’s point of view. This, the company claims, makes them unique in offering customers a fairer deal. For example, rather than offshoring their customer support, they have a complete customer service team based in Bristol. They also make these agents accessible – you don’t have to navigate through 20 levels of phone menus to talk to someone.

Because of this, and because of the prices they offer, the company has become one of the fastest-growing of all of the independent UK energy supplies.

Tight cost structures

Of course, prices still an overriding factor, and the company claims to have some of the best rates in the industry. In large part, this is due to the way that they manage their company.

For every pound they make, 82 pence goes into buying energy and another 5% goes in VAT. In other words, only 13% of what you pay goes to the company to cover its operating costs and profits. In fact, they target a profit of three pence in the pound, which makes for extremely competitive tariffs.

In contrast, British Gas made £569 million in profit in the first six months of 2013, with revenues coming in at £7.9 billion. That’s more than 7% of profits in comparison. To find out more about OVO Energy’s revenues and profits, we recommend you contact OVO Energy to discuss them.

Green energy options

The company takes its power from the national grid, so it can’t guarantee that the exact energy that you use is green. However, it does have a tariff that offers the equivalent of offsetting. For every unit of energy that you buy under this plan, the company will purchase a unit that is completely renewable – in other words, the net effect is that the company delivers 100% renewable energy. In addition to its green tariff, the company also supports a number of environmental charities, including Cool Earth, where it helps to protect more than 100,000 acres of rainforest.

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