Small energy supplier failures are a result of too much enthusiasm and not enough expertise.

That’s the verdict from Mark Anderson, Sales and Marketing Director at Haven Power, who spoke to ELN Editor Sumit Bose at this year’s Energy Live Consultancy Conference (ELCC) at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

As hundreds of consultants and brokers gathered to network, build knowledge and find ways to better cater for their customers, many of the conversations in the room focused on the issue of uncertainty, which some believe is in part created by the high volume of companies entering and exiting the market.

Mr Anderson suggested many of the challenger firms that have gone out of business have done so because they did not adequately understand the complexity of the energy supply market and the number of obligations that need to be followed.

He said: “The warning sign has always been ‘customer service has been deteriorating’, every single time, you know, I read the articles on Energy Live News and they could almost be copied and pasted, because its always the same symptoms that are coming in.

“These new suppliers have great ideas, the right motivations, but just not the resources to really measure up.”

He added more consistent, long-term regulatory certainty was needed, both in terms of generation and supply.