Brentwood Borough Council is hoping firms in its London area can trim their energy bills by buying in bulk with others – in what’s known as an energy basket.

The scheme is managed by independent energy consultant Energycentric and the deal was aided Opus Energy.

The firms believe energy baskets can help small businesses tap into more complex energy purchasing options usually only available to larger businesses.

Michelle Tyreman, Head of Corporate Sales at Opus Energy says: “We applaud the Council for their efforts to help businesses in Brentwood save money and in removing the challenges associated with more sophisticated energy purchasing and are proud to be extending our partnership as the chosen energy supplier for the borough council.”

Councillor John Kerslake, chair of the Performance and Resources Committee and spokesperson for finance and procurement at Brentwood Borough Council adds: “Businesses are always looking for ways to manage costs and overheads better, so this scheme is a great alternative to the conventional way of buying energy and actively supports the army of SMEs that are vital to our borough.”

As part of the scheme, businesses can get extra services from Energycentric including monitoring of energy consumption, a cloud-based system enabling organisations to shut down computers at night remotely without loss of data, discounted boiler care packages and liaison with an energy specialist on their bills.