One of the Big Six energy firms in the UK, Southern Electric (SSE), a Scottish and Southern company, provides gas and electricity to businesses of all sizes and across all sectors in the UK.
This is a time of big change for SSE. SSE has just sold their domestic energy business to OVO – all 5,000,000 customers and 8,000 staff will become a part of the OVO brand. SSE have struggled in recent years, first announcing its desire to exit residential energy provision altogether to the Stock Market in 2017.
It lately also had to abandon separate plans to spin off its supply business to merge it with fellow Big Six company, Npower, because of “challenging conditions” in the market.
Online reviews of SSE’s service leave much room for improvement. Perhaps this is indicative of a loss of focus and direction within the company over the previous few years.
However, this great British company has had a difficult time of it lately and, with the sale of the domestic division to OVO, we’re certain that its sole and renewed focus on the business sector will be profitable and that it will quickly rehabilitate its image and standing among its customers.
SSE are now exclusively focused on business customers
SSE’s core offering to business clients is focused on delivering the following benefits:
- On-call customer service team
- Help to cut carbon emissions
- Flexible billing solutions
- Contract options (fixed and variable)
- Competitively-priced gas and electricity
- Business account manager
- Advice on reducing energy bills costs
SSE business energy tariffs
| Supplier Name | Fixed price option | Fixed contract length | Variable price option | Type |
| SSE business energy | Yes | Up to 5 years | Yes | Big Six |
For microbusinesses
For businesses with less than 10 members of staff, a turnover or balance sheet of less than €2 million, and which use less than 100,000 kWh of electricity and less than 293,000 kWH of gas, SSE have a special team of advisors and customer support staff helping clients to find the optimal business energy deal for them.
In addition to offering competitive tariffs, SSE’s microbusinesses tariffs include:
- renewable electricity
- sustainability advice
- energy optimisation plans
- smart metering
- advice on responsible employment, social responsibility, and environmental responsibility
For small businesses
For companies above the microbusiness threshold, SSE’s small business tariffs offer:
- Fixed contracts – gas and electricity unit prices set for the term of the contract (up to 5 years) with an option to fix non-commodity costs
- Variable contracts – a no-commitment contract where prices track both wholesale fuel and non-commodity costs
- Green contracts – 100% renewable electricity and gas contracts with the option to save money on the refuelling of electric fleets
For larger businesses
SSE’s larger business tariffs benefit from the same account features as smaller customers with the following extra services provided:
- Energy management systems – to better manage energy consumption
- Energy strategy – an online reporting system allowing you to make your business more sustainable
- Triad management – help to manage electricity usage during Triad tests
- Annual tracker supply contract – mitigate price fluctuations by spreading out purchasing during the year
For Northern Ireland
A wholly-owned subsidiary of SSE plc, SSE Airtricity is Northern Ireland’s second largest energy provider. It supplies 350,000 businesses and homes with energy-related services, natural gas, and greener electricity.
SSE commercial customer support
The SSE customer service teams are open between 8am and 8pm on weekdays and between 8am and 2pm on Saturday. No call centre support is provided on a Sunday.
SSE are also active on social media and they welcome contact from their customers on Twitter or Facebook.
SSE and the environment
SSE’s green electricity tariff sources 100% renewable electricity generated by hydro and wind farms. Their method of providing green electricity is independently verified by a Carbon Disclosure Project service provided by EcoAct. SSE also has a Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGOs) certificate.
For business customers choosing to power their businesses using green energy, SSE sends logos and certificates to clients for use on email footers, letterheads, and website so you can demonstrate that your company’s commitment to environmental sustainability.
Switching to SSE
Switching to SSE is straightforward. As long as you’re within the final 49 days of your current supply contract, you can request a quote from them. They will need 17 days to plan the switch (and perhaps four or five days more if you use a brokerage service).
When speaking with an SSE representative, you’ll need to supply them with:
- company’s meter number,
- contract date,
- name of your current electricity supplier,
- the tariff you’re currently on,
- type of supply, and
- your company’s electricity usage.
SSE business energy review
SSE review on Which?
Readers of Which? recently reviewed SSE performance through the perspective of their customers – while it finished top of the Big Six suppliers, its overall score was a disappointing 58%.
| Rating | Out of 5 |
| Bill accuracy | 3 |
| Bill clarity | 3 |
| Phone customer service | 4 |
| Online customer service | 4 |
| Complaints handling | 4 |
| Helping you understand and reduce energy use | 3 |
| Value for money | 3 |
SSE reviews on TrustPilot
TrustPilot is a review site when consumers and business customers can leave their feedback about a particular company. There have been 945 Trustpilot reviews on SSE and it scores a concerning 1.4 out of 5.
| Rating | %age of reviews |
| Excellent | 9% |
| Great | 3% |
| Average | 2% |
| Poor | 3% |
| Bad | 84% |
Typical excellent SSE Trustpilot reviews
Margaret said, “Been with SSE a few years now and am quite amazed at the 1 star reviews people have been giving for SSE. I have found them helpful, courteous and quick at dealing with my problems.”
Rollo Snook said, “SSE are second to none in understanding the customer. Eon customers complained to me the most about DD and payment issues. Npower and BG customers just were being ripped off. You might a bit more for SSE depending where you live, but it is truly worth it. [SSE have] always been very reasonable and feel to me like a friendly business partner that have helped me grow, rather than cause me any nightmares.”
Typical bad SSE Trustpilot reviews
James Olanow said, “The absolute worst Company in the UK. Their customer service is non-existent. They mess about with their customers continually with no consideration for anyone’s time. Garbage.”
Barry Grist said, “If I could have given 0 stars I would. SSE are the worst company I have ever had to deal with. It has taken over 6 months of phone calls and emails and being passed from pillar to post and I still have not had the final payment owed to me for my solar panels.”
SSE – in conclusion
Although the company has been through a torrid time in recent years, it still remains one of the Big Six suppliers of gas and electricity to business. The company now has 5,000,000 less accounts to manage with the sale of its domestic unit to Ovo and, although businesses generally pay less per unit than homeowners, the corporate sector is a lot more profitable.
We hope that they will invest the profits they make into the operations and support team of the business which had caused their residential customers such ire lately. SSE are a massive company with a reach that the smaller and more independent energy suppliers can currently only dream of achieving for themselves.