Innovative Purchases Scheme Set to Make Significant Savings for British Gas Business Customers

LONDON, June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- British Gas Business – the largest business energy supplier in the UK – is using its own purchasing power to negotiate substantial deals and pass on those discounted rates to its small business customers.  It has enlisted the support of eight companies, including household names such as Royal Mail, AXA and the AA. The scheme, called Purchase Power, could help UK businesses save thousands of pounds each year.

Those companies that have signed up to offer exclusive savings and benefits to British Gas Business customers provide a range of essential services to small and medium sized businesses. The package is free to join for British Gas Customers and could save members up to 4,500 pounds Sterling each year. It includes the following:

• Up to 60% off AA Fleetwide products
• 30% off Royal Mail Sameday deliveries
• 20% off Dyno-rod plumbing and drain repairs
• 15% off AXA business insurance

The scheme is the latest example of British Gas Business' ongoing commitment to support small business customers as we emerge from the recession. In March 2009 the business launched its SAVE (Small business Advice and Value Expertise) initiative in response to customer insight, which showed that smaller customers wanted a flexible approach to help manage their costs and debt. The SAVE initiative also offers advice and practical help to businesses looking to reduce their energy costs through efficiency measures.

Kanat Emiroglu, Managing Director of British Gas Business said: "With economic conditions remaining tough, life is difficult for a great many of our customers. They've told us they're constantly looking for ways to stretch their finances further. Purchase Power brings together a package of savings and benefits of essential business services and can make a very real difference to our customers' operations."

Steven Seymour, Centre Manager at Crossgates Centre in Leeds and Park View Centre Whitley Bay said: "The last two years have been a difficult climate for business, with increased pressure to reduce overheads whilst still providing a quality service. Despite keeping a very close eye on my bottom line, I don't always have the time to shop around and negotiate deals from suppliers. British Gas Business' Purchase Power scheme means that I can have access to substantial savings with minimum effort. For example, I can now save 25% on my annual bill of 3,000 pounds for office and stationery supplies. "

For further information and to register for Purchase Power, visit http://www.britishgas.co.uk/purchasepower/

About Purchase Power

• The Purchase Power scheme is free to join and is available to all British Gas Business' 500,000 small and medium sized customers

• 4,500 pounds is the average annual saving a customer can expect to make if all deals are taken up. This is based on an average sales value for a SME customer.

• The eight partners chosen to launch the scheme are: The AA, AXA Insurance, AXA PPP Healthcare, Caboodle office supplies, Dyno-rod, Hertz, Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide.

• New offers will be introduced regularly, with four new deals each quarter, and the offers will be sizeable and exclusive to BGB customers.

About British Gas Business

• British Gas Business is the B2B unit of British Gas and has 500,000 SME customers, making it the largest energy supplier to small businesses in the UK.

• British Gas has the lowest carbon intensity of any of the major UK energy suppliers in terms of tonnes of CO2 emitted per megawatt hour of electricity supplied to customers.

• For more information on business electricity supply and gas connections, visit http://www.britishgas.co.uk/business/.

SOURCE British Gas Business