Member Article

Leicestershire business ranked first in customer satisfaction survey for best national energy supplier

A Leicestershire energy business has stoked the flames of competition by rising to the top spot in a nationally recognised customer satisfaction survey.

Upstart Outfox the Market (OTM) beat big brands such as British Gas and EDF energy to claim top spot in Which’s annual energy satisfaction survey.

Rising a staggering 19 places since last year, the firm, situated at Frog Island near the city centre, scored five-star ratings for billing accuracy and value for money.

Commenting on the result, Keith Bastian, entrepreneur and founder of OTM, said:

“At a time of pandemic, where people are spending more and more time at home resulting in higher energy bills; we at Outfox the Market clearly understand the situation everybody is in.

“We are proud and grateful to our customers who have recognised we have made a difference. This proves our direction of travel is the right one, but we also recognise we have a lot more to do to become a supplier of choice for all.”

OTM offers customers some of the cheapest deals on the market, with renewable, clean wind electricity core to its eco-conscious ethos.

It had an impressive customer score of 82% in Which’s annual survey, which spoke to more than 8000 people in September 2020 about their experiences with an energy provider.

The business had the highest proportion of customers, 93%, experiencing no issues in the last 12 months.

“In a year when millions of people have been living under lockdown and racking up substantial gas and electricity bills, finding a good-value energy supplier that offers excellent customer service has never been more important,” Natalie Hitchins, head of home products and services at Which? said.

With over 100,000 customers to date, OTM has been gradually tackling the monopoly of the ‘Big Six’ energy companies, which continue to score below average in Which’s survey.

It has big aims to grow its customer base to over 250,000 in the next five years, and is well placed as a business to expand into fledgling market whereby cutting carbon emissions is at the core of UK Government ambitions.

For every unit of electricity the firm takes from the grid, OTM replaces this with a unit generated from a renewable source.

A ‘clean energy’ approach is central to husband and wife business duo Keith and Maria Bastian, who also run sister company Fischer Future Heat, an innovative German clay core electric heating company.

“Reducing heating inefficiencies and raising awareness of the benefits of going electric has been something we’ve been striving to do for over ten years,” added Keith.

“You wouldn’t pay more for your mobile phone bill or car insurance, so why pay more for your electricity?

“It is a slow process of education but one we feel well-placed for, as ‘going electric’ only becomes more and more conscious in customer minds in the next five to ten years, with the mass ascendency of electric vehicles and the suchlike.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Outfox the Market .