UKHospitality has urged the CMA to undertake a Market Investigation Reference into the business energy market, as the industry remains “not fit-for-purpose” despite continued calls for action from operators, trade bodies, regulators and the CMA itself.
UKHospitality has written to Sarah Cardell, CEO of the Competition and Markets Authority, to demand an investigation into the business energy market, stating the criteria for a Market Investigation Reference has been “undoubtedly met.”
An MIR would identify how far the lack of competition in the non-domestic energy market is impacting businesses, and is the only way to address “entrenched competition problems” that were identified by the CMA itself in 2016.
“The business energy market remains one of the biggest millstones around hospitality’s neck,” said UKHospitality CEO Kate Nicholls. “Over decades, it has been proven that it is not fit-for-purpose. It has unscrupulously excluded businesses from accessing energy, charged them extortionately when they do offer contracts and treated operators with contempt when they come to suppliers for help.”
“All of the conditions have been met to justify a thorough investigation and both the CMA and Ofgem have recognised independently that the market is not working effectively.”
Oh, you go girl.
Nicholls has been hunting down the energy barons for sometime. It is, in all fairness, one of the most criminal abuses of essential services distribution in modern history; aided and abetted, obviously, by the useless, toothless, worthless and impotent energy regulator.
And it’s not as if the battle hasn’t been going on for sometime. As far back as 2016, the CMA found that a lack of competition in the energy market was causing SMEs to pay 18 percent too much for energy, estimated at £500m per year, and despite Ofgem – just to remind those that may not know – that useless, toothless, worthless and impotent energy regulator, committing in 2023 to consider a market investigation, no action has been taken.
“With the Government rightly looking at how regulators operate, a swift investigation into the non-domestic energy market would be a prime example of a good regulator acting to the benefit of the market and investment,” added Nicholls.
“After all, there is nothing more detrimental to business investment in the UK than having to pay an excessive amount for energy and potentially not even being able to access it at all.”
