Food and drink businesses have raised concerns over the behaviour of gas and electricity companies in submissions made to the energy regulator, Ofgem.
Many UK businesses have accused suppliers of profiteering and discrimination, in complaints made to Ofgem as part of an investigation into “poor conduct”, launched earlier this year.
Burger King criticised the energy sector for a “lack of willingness of suppliers to submit a quote or offer for our business”, according to The Telegraph, with the fast-food company claiming it was only able to find two suppliers to provide its gas supply.
Supermarket chain Iceland added that, “Suppliers are attempting to remove every element of risk from their business by passing it directly onto their customers.
“The customers then have no option but to pass these costs on where they can or absorb them. The first option fuels the cost of living crisis and the second could see many businesses fail.”
Ofgem said it has since sought to address concerns by introducing better complaint handling between suppliers and businesses.
An Ofgem spokesman said, “These initial views were in response to an early stage of our biggest deep-dive into the non-domestic energy market.
“Since then we’ve received more up-to-date responses to proposals we published in July, with positive feedback from consumer groups. We are carefully considering all the responses we have received.”
