Natasha Gilmour on the energy advice that is available

“EHU saved me from giving my business up.”

This is what one small business told us. You may not know, but the Extra Help Unit (EHU) within Citizens Advice Scotland supports people and small businesses in vulnerable circumstances with energy issues. We are a statutory service based in Glasgow and offer support across Scotland, England and Wales. 

We help with a range of issues including billing, metering and debt through to crisis intervention, taking urgent action to prevent disconnections or accelerating reconnection timescales.

High energy prices continue to place enormous financial strain on small businesses, with devastating consequences for both their immediate operations and long-term viability. A third of businesses reaching the EHU have either been disconnected or face the risk of imminent disconnection.

The sense of desperation, shame and worry is overwhelming - people carry the heavy burden of losing their business and main income stream, while facing the heartbreaking prospect of having to let their employees go.

Too often businesses reach the Extra Help Unit too late. Businesses are afforded less protections in the energy market than domestic consumers, and we often see inconsistencies in the support they are offered, with noticeably less empathy shown. 

The impact of our advice and support enables businesses to find a way forward. The types of small businesses we support are wide ranging, and include hairdressers, takeaway shops, pubs, restaurants, small hotels, boxing clubs, social clubs and local business centres. All of these businesses have a common thread; they are serving, supporting and employing people within local communities.

Citizens Advice Scotland may not be the obvious point of contact for small businesses, but we are here to help. We work collaboratively with energy suppliers to advocate on behalf of businesses and to achieve the best possible outcome. In the past 12 months alone, the EHU has been able to put more than £2.8 million back into the pockets of small businesses, with over a third of cases resulting in amended billing and improved payment plans. 96% of businesses surveyed were happy with the quality of service and in 97% of cases, a positive outcome was achieved.

We also hold energy suppliers to account. We hold regular meetings with energy suppliers and the regulator, Ofgem, and continue to use our unique insight to push for policy change and improvements in service delivery. We’re keen to see greater consistency across the market, especially with timescales linked to disconnection and more importantly, reconnection. We are also working to improve solutions where people are caught up in non-domestic contracts and also, improve support where complaints relate to energy brokers.

To ensure businesses thrive, it’s important for those struggling with energy issues to know, they do not need to struggle alone, they have a voice. It’s important for any person or business struggling with energy issues to know that they don’t need to struggle alone; we are here to provide the support needed.

Natasha Gilmour is head of The Extra Help Unit  at Citizens Advice Scotland.

This column was first published in the Herald.