Blog: Ring-ding-ding! Small suppliers out-box the heavyweights

Brits love a good underdog. Rooting for the scrawny competitor fits our sense of good sportsmanship. We’re not like our friends across the Atlantic who gush over tank-like athletes in […]

Brits love a good underdog. Rooting for the scrawny competitor fits our sense of good sportsmanship.

We’re not like our friends across the Atlantic who gush over tank-like athletes in American football. A slim build will do us very nicely, thank you very much – and if the little man happens to make a decent fist of things, all to the good.

Which gives a neat perspective to figures out this week suggesting smaller, independent energy suppliers are boxing the ears off their bigger rivals in the business market.

In the business world, you’re less likely to be apathetic about the deal you’re getting, the service you receive, far less likely to stand for being bullied into paying more for your something. Especially – in these days of price hikes and electricity market reform – when it comes to energy.

So it’s telling that in the business to business or b2b arena – if the stats are truly representative – bigger suppliers aren’t faring so well.

In the aftermath of so much public anger over price rises, it’s unlikely the big guns have been resting on their laurels – but then, as the sporting cliche goes, they have more to lose and the independents snapping at their heels have more to gain.

Maybe the underdogs will have their day soon after all… Anyone for a wager?

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