Energy supplier Utilita has secured its 500,000th customer, more than doubling its size in 2015.
Utilita specialises in the provision of pay as you go tariffs for smart meters and claims it is now the fastest growing independent energy retailer in the UK.
Commenting on the latest customer-acquisition milestone, the company’s chief executive Bill Bullen said Utilita has seen “exceptional growth – welcoming around 10,000 new customers a week – but to reach half a million is a real landmark for us”.
As customer numbers have swelled, Utilita has also increased its staff. The number of people employed by the firm doubled in just over a month after it opened a new call centre in Derbyshire.
Bullen said Utilita’s job creation and customer growth success is proof that “At a time when the energy market is becoming increasingly competitive and dozens of new entrants are battling for customers,” it is possible for suppliers to “give Britain’s hard-pressed families a fair deal and still grow a business”.
The chief executive concluded “Utilita was set up to challenge the dominance of the ‘Big Six’ on the energy market in the UK – and we are doing just that. Our smart meters help people to effectively manage their energy, which is the most effective way of combating fuel poverty.”
Utilita’s bullish growth announcement comes on the same day that EDF Energy announced a price rise.
Its chief executive Vincent de Rivaz said that rising supply costs meant it was unable to make a “fair margin” without increasing the cost of its standard tariff for the second time in 2017.