London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Bulb, seventh-biggest energy firm in UK, collapses - but government says customers are protected

Bulb, seventh-biggest energy firm in UK, collapses - but government says customers are protected

Bulb, which has 1.7 million customers, will be propped up by the Treasury to allow it to continue to operate as administrators seek a restructuring deal, sale or transfer of its customer base.

Bulb, Britain's seventh biggest energy supplier, has formally entered into administration - becoming the biggest victim so far of the crisis in the industry and leaving taxpayers with a £1.7bn bill.

The collapse was confirmed by the government after the company, which launched in 2015 and has 1.7 million customers, said earlier this week that it was set to enter a "special administration" underwritten by the Treasury.

At a court hearing on Wednesday to formalise the move it was revealed that the government had set aside £1.7bn to support the work of Teneo, the company which is handling the administration.

The process is being adopted because Bulb is regarded as too big to be handled in the same way as the more than 20 smaller rivals that have already succumbed since the start of September as surging wholesale gas prices put their finances under strain.

In those cases, regulator Ofgem ensured continuity of supply by choosing a larger firm to take on customers.

But the special administration for Bulb would see it propped up by guaranteed funding from the Treasury, with no interruption of service or supply to customers, while administrators seek a restructuring deal, sale or transfer of its customer base.

It will mean hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money being used to fund the company's obligations in the wholesale energy markets to ensure that it can continue operating.

Bulb's demise may place its workforce of roughly 1,000 at risk though in the short term they will still be needed to carry on in their roles through the special administration.

It takes to nearly four million the number of customers who have been affected by the collapses of their suppliers since the autumn.

The companies found themselves caught out after a surge in wholesale gas prices to record levels left them losing money on the energy they were contracted to sell to households and businesses at lower prices.

Sky News revealed earlier this week that Bulb was on the brink of calling in administrators and that investment bank Lazard was set to be hired to seek a buyer for the business.

An executive at one energy supplier told Sky they anticipated "significant" interest in acquiring the business once it has been unshackled from hundreds of millions of pounds of financial liabilities.

Energy minister Greg Hands said of the latest development: "Our overriding priority is to protect consumers and the appointment of administrators will ensure the supply of energy remains normal to Bulb customers across the country, providing vital reassurance while an enduring solution is agreed.

"The administrators will now take temporary charge of operating Bulb, and that includes ensuring if a new owner cannot be found customers are safely moved to another supplier."

The timing of the formal appointment of administrators has been complicated by talks with Bulb's secured creditor, Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund, which has an outstanding £55m secured loan to Bulb's parent company, Simple Energy.


In a stock market update on Wednesday, Sequoia referred to its concerns over a "loan to a UK energy supply company which has been (in effect) 'nationalised' by the UK government".

It said: "In the interests of shareholders, we will be taking all steps to ensure a fair and equitable treatment for our secured loan, in accordance with precedents."

Sequoia noted that during special administration that it would be "unable to enforce its security over the assets of the borrower" and that funding provided by the government "may rank senior" to its loan.

"Therefore, special administration may have the effect of transferring (without compensation) the value of the fund's collateral to the government," it said.

Sky News reported, just hours before Bulb entered special administration, that Sequoia had moved to block the appointment of AlixPartners as administrator to Simple Energy.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×