Energy regulator OFGEM recently announced that there is an estimated £204m in business closed accounts lying dormant in energy firms’ coffers. That’s cash paid by businesses that have moved on or gone under that has been paid but can’t be used.
It’s a tidy sum. And SME advocate organisation Enterprise Nation is calling on the big six energy firms to unlock these funds to support a new growth initiative for Britain’s smallest firms.
Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation, says: “We know there is a massive shortfall in digital skills amongst small business owners. Studies suggest that while Britons are leading the way as outstanding ecommerce customers, around 50 per cent of home-grown businesses still don’t have a website.
Small firms are crying out for advice on how to take the guess work out of global trading, how to take advantage of the increasing number of contracts open for tender from big business and Government that we’re always hearing about, whilst increasing their workforce and volume.
Meanwhile, here we have the big six energy companies sitting on cash that’s crying out for a worthy cause exactly like this. We’d like to see what’s left of the funds that cannot be reunited with defunct business accounts, to be used to support small firms as they look to grow, offering financial support to fund digital resources, global trading skills and important strategic advice that can help smaller firms compete for bigger, transformative contracts.”
