Octopus Energy for Business publishes a microbusiness electricity rate on its public tariff page; almost none of its larger competitors do the same. That single fact reshapes how a UK SME finds the cheapest non-domestic deal in 2026, because most "cheapest supplier" claims compare bespoke quotes that vanish the moment a meter profile changes.
TL;DR
- Octopus Energy for Business and So Energy Business publish indicative microbusiness unit rates; most large suppliers price bespoke per MPAN and profile.
- Ofgem's non-domestic market data, last refreshed in early 2026, shows SME unit electricity rates clustering around 24-30 p/kWh and gas around 6-9 p/kWh for new fixed contracts.
- "Cheapest" depends on consumption profile, contract length, payment method and MPAN region; a single league table is misleading.
- Northern Ireland sits outside the GB market: Power NI, Click Energy and SSE Airtricity Business price through the Utility Regulator framework, not Ofgem.
- Broker-sourced quotes typically embed 0.3-2 p/kWh of commission inside the unit rate, which Ofgem's TPI consultation flagged for disclosure reform in 2026.
Last reviewed: May 2026
Why "cheapest supplier" is the wrong question
The standard consumer instinct is to ask which supplier sells the cheapest unit. In domestic energy that question almost works, because Ofgem's price cap normalises most variable tariffs into a narrow band. In non-domestic supply the question collapses on contact with reality.
Business electricity and gas contracts are quoted against a specific Meter Point Administration Number (MPAN) or Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN), with a unit rate that reflects expected consumption, daytime profile, half-hourly status, credit rating of the business, contract length, and the wholesale curve on the day of pricing. Two near-identical bakeries on the same street can receive quotes 4 p/kWh apart from the same supplier on the same morning, simply because one has a half-hourly meter and the other does not. The catch is that none of this is visible from a public price page, which is why most large suppliers (British Gas Business, EDF Business, E.ON Next Business, ScottishPower Business) do not publish standard non-domestic rates at all. Instead, sales operates through bespoke quotation: a buyer submits a Letter of Authority, the supplier prices the meter, and the rate holds for a few hours or, at most, the day. That model is legitimate; it is also the reason the phrase "cheapest business energy supplier" returns a stream of broker landing pages rather than a transparent table. Anyone treating those landing pages as a price comparison is reading marketing, not market data.
Who actually publishes business rates in 2026
A small group of suppliers publishes indicative microbusiness rates, defined by Ofgem as fewer than 10 employees or under £2 million annual turnover with electricity consumption under 100,000 kWh per year (or gas under 293,000 kWh). Octopus Energy for Business publishes a 12-month microbusiness fixed unit rate plus standing charge on its public site. So Energy Business, the SME arm of So Energy, has historically published indicative rates for very small commercial users. A handful of new-entrant green suppliers (Pozitive Energy, Yu Energy, Valda Energy) publish at least illustrative bands.
The published rate is rarely the cheapest available, because anything bespoke can undercut a published number when wholesale dips. In practice, the published rate is a ceiling for negotiation rather than a floor.
The microbusiness benchmark in May 2026
Ofgem's non-domestic data portal, refreshed quarterly, sets the reference points. The Q1 2026 release showed average SME fixed-contract electricity rates in the 24-30 p/kWh band and gas in the 6-9 p/kWh band, with standing charges of roughly 35-60 p/day for electricity and 25-40 p/day for gas. Those are averages across new contracts, not a published tariff. A profile-friendly business in a low-cost MPAN region can sit below the band; a high-load business on an evening-heavy profile in a constrained region can sit above it.
Indicative published microbusiness rates, GB, May 2026
| Supplier | Electricity unit (p/kWh) | Electricity standing (p/day) | Gas unit (p/kWh) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Octopus Energy for Business (12m fixed) | ~25-29 | ~45-55 | ~7-8 | Published indicative; region varies |
| So Energy Business (microbusiness) | ~26-30 | ~40-55 | n/a | Electricity-only focus historically |
| Yu Energy (small SME fixed) | Bespoke; indicative ~27-32 | ~50-65 | ~8-9 | Indicative bands shown via quote |
| Valda Energy | Bespoke; smart-meter biased | Varies | n/a | Half-hourly read incentives |
| British Gas Business / EDF / E.ON Next / ScottishPower | Not published | Not published | Not published | Bespoke quote per MPAN only |
Bands above are illustrative of the public-facing positioning recorded in May 2026 and should be verified against each supplier's live page. Bespoke quotes can sit either side of the band.
How to find the actual cheapest deal for a real meter
The fastest way to extract a real number is to request quotes directly from three published-rate suppliers and three bespoke-quote suppliers using the same Letter of Authority, on the same day, for the same contract length. That removes wholesale-curve drift as a variable. Octopus Energy for Business, So Energy Business and one of Yu/Pozitive/Valda will return rates from a published or near-published base. British Gas Business, EDF Business and E.ON Next Business will return bespoke rates referenced to their internal pricing engines. The cheapest of those six, on a like-for-like basis, is the genuinely cheapest available to that MPAN that day. Brokers can compress this process, but the unit rate they return includes their commission (typically 0.3-2 p/kWh), so the underlying supplier price is not the price the business pays. Ofgem's Non-Domestic Market Review consultation on Third-Party Intermediaries, progressing through statutory consultation in 2026, would require disclosure of that uplift on every quote; until the rule lands, the buyer carries the audit burden.
The Northern Ireland exception
Northern Ireland is a separate energy market under the Utility Regulator, not Ofgem. NIE Networks operates the distribution network. The dominant non-domestic electricity suppliers are Power NI, Click Energy, Energia, SSE Airtricity Business and Budget Energy; gas supply is concentrated around Firmus Energy and SSE Airtricity Gas in the Greater Belfast and Ten Towns networks. Unit rates are typically lower than GB averages on electricity (Power NI's published small business rate in early 2026 sat in the low 20s p/kWh band) but the standing-charge structure and contract terms differ. A business with sites in both Belfast and Birmingham cannot run a single all-Ireland procurement against a GB framework: each meter belongs to a different regulator's regime.
Here is where it breaks for multi-site SMEs: a "UK-wide cheapest supplier" claim is structurally impossible when the relevant comparison set spans two regulators.
What drives cheapness in practice
Five variables decide who is cheapest for a specific meter on a specific day. Wholesale exposure: a supplier hedged ahead of a wholesale dip pays more for its book and quotes higher; a supplier with open-market exposure on a low-wholesale day quotes lower. Profile risk: a business with an even, weekday-daytime load is cheap to serve and attracts lower margin; an evening-and-weekend retail profile carries a profile-shape premium. Credit risk: a business with a thin or recent credit file is priced with a credit add-on, sometimes invisibly. Payment method: direct debit unit rates are typically 1-3 p/kWh cheaper than cash or BACS-on-demand rates. Contract length: 24-month fixed rates in May 2026 generally sit below 12-month equivalents, because suppliers prefer the lock-in; that flips when wholesale is expected to fall sharply.
None of these variables appear on a published tariff page. All of them appear inside a bespoke quote.
The deemed-rate trap
A business that moves into premises without a contract is placed on "deemed" rates with the incumbent supplier. Deemed rates are unilateral, not negotiated, and historically sit 30-50% above the open-market equivalent. Ofgem's microbusiness rules cap some deemed-rate behaviours but do not cap the rate itself for non-microbusiness sites. The cheapest deal available to any business on a deemed contract is whichever supplier will sign a new fixed contract first; speed of execution beats unit-rate optimisation when the meter is bleeding deemed pricing.
Brokers, lead-gen and the disclosure problem
A commercial energy broker can legitimately compress procurement time, present comparable quotes, and run a tender on the buyer's behalf. The catch is that most SME brokers earn nothing from the buyer directly; they earn from supplier commission baked into the unit rate. A 1 p/kWh uplift on a 100,000 kWh annual contract is £1,000 a year in commission, invisible to the buyer unless asked for. Ofgem's Non-Domestic Market Review TPI consultation, in statutory phase during 2026, proposes mandatory disclosure of commission per kWh on every quote. Until that rule applies, the only safe assumption is that any quote routed through a broker contains commission, and the buyer should ask in writing what that commission is before signing.
Brokers active in the I&C segment (Inenco, Inspired Energy, Energy Solutions UK) are structurally different from cold-call lead-gen shops, but the disclosure principle applies to both.
A concrete example: a Manchester cafe in March 2026
A Manchester cafe with a single-rate non-half-hourly electricity meter, annual consumption of 18,000 kWh, on a deemed contract following a change of tenancy, requested quotes on 14 March 2026 from Octopus Energy for Business (published microbusiness rate), British Gas Business (bespoke) and two brokers. Octopus returned a 12-month fixed at 26.4 p/kWh and 52 p/day. British Gas Business returned 28.9 p/kWh and 61 p/day bespoke. The brokers returned 27.2 p/kWh and 30.1 p/kWh from un-named "panel" suppliers, with commission undisclosed. The cheapest published rate beat both broker offers by 0.8-3.7 p/kWh on a meter that ran 18,000 kWh a year, a £144-£666 annual delta. The shop signed the published rate directly.
The lesson is not that direct beats broker; the lesson is that without like-for-like quotes on the same day, the comparison is theatre.
What to do this week
Pull the latest bill. Note the MPAN, MPRN if dual-meter, annual kWh, standing charge, current unit rate, contract end date and supplier. Sign a Letter of Authority. Request three direct supplier quotes and, if a broker is used, ask in writing for the commission per kWh inside the rate. Compare on a 12-month total cost basis, not unit rate alone, because standing charges of 30-65 p/day can shift the ranking on lower-consumption meters.
For a meter consuming 8,000 kWh a year, a 10 p/day standing charge difference is roughly £36.50 over the year. A 1 p/kWh unit rate difference on the same meter is £80. On a 50,000 kWh meter the unit rate moves to £500 of annual swing and the standing charge to roughly the same £36.50, which flips which lever matters most. Smaller meters are standing-charge sensitive; larger meters are unit-rate sensitive. The Ofgem Q1 2026 non-domestic dataset reflects both behaviours in the spread of contract types signed across the segment.
Editorial disclaimer. KaelTripton is an independent UK publisher. This article is editorial, not personal financial or energy procurement advice. Rates, caps, grant levels and supplier offers move; verify any figure with the named primary source before acting on it. KaelTripton does not earn commission from suppliers or brokers mentioned.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a single cheapest business energy supplier in the UK?
No. The cheapest supplier varies by MPAN region, consumption profile, contract length and the wholesale curve on the day of quote. A like-for-like quote from three suppliers on the same day is the only meaningful test.
Why does Octopus publish business rates when most suppliers do not?
Octopus Energy for Business has built its SME proposition around a published indicative microbusiness rate, which is a competitive differentiator. Most larger suppliers prefer bespoke pricing because it lets them adjust to wholesale and profile risk on a per-meter basis.
How much commission does a broker add to a quote?
Typical SME broker commission sits between 0.3 p/kWh and 2 p/kWh embedded in the unit rate. Ofgem's TPI consultation in 2026 has proposed mandatory disclosure; until the rule lands, ask in writing for the commission figure.
Are Northern Ireland business rates included in GB comparisons?
No. Northern Ireland is regulated by the Utility Regulator, not Ofgem, and the supplier set is different (Power NI, Click Energy, SSE Airtricity Business, Energia, Budget Energy). NIE Networks operates the distribution network.
What is a deemed rate and how cheap can it be?
A deemed rate is the unilateral rate a supplier charges when a business occupies premises without a contract, typically 30-50% above open-market equivalents. Signing any fixed contract quickly is usually cheaper than optimising the unit rate.
Does payment method affect the cheapness of a contract?
Yes. Direct-debit unit rates are usually 1-3 p/kWh below cash or pay-on-demand rates, because credit and collection risk is lower for the supplier.
Sources
- Ofgem - Energy advice for businesses, accessed May 2026
- Ofgem - Energy data portal (non-domestic market data Q1 2026)
- Ofgem - Non-Domestic Market Review: TPI rule changes consultation, 2026
- DESNZ - Energy prices statistics collection, 2026
- Utility Regulator - Northern Ireland non-domestic energy framework
- Citizens Advice - Energy supply guidance (business deemed rates)
