The map above shows the distribution of UK energy suppliers by postcode district. In total, there are 175 energy suppliers, but the market remains dominated by the Big 6, who still collectively supply 78% of UK homes.
We’ll explain everything in greater detail below, but here are a few of the most interesting findings:
- Preston is the UK’s energy supplier capital with the greatest concentration of energy companies per capita. 12 in total or 1 for every 43,380 people.
- The PR7 postcode alone has 10 companies.
- Unsurprisingly, London has more energy companies than any other UK city at 25, but fewer per capita than Worcester, Swindon, Bournemouth, York, Gloucester, Coventry, Leeds or Nottingham.
- Only 1 of the Big 6 has their domestic division based in London (EDF). The others are based in Windsor (British Gas), Coventry (E.ON), Swindon (npower), Glasgow (Scottish Power) and Reading (SSE).
- 85 energy companies are located in areas with a Labour MP vs 80 in an areas with a Conservative MP. So nationalisation could impact Labour areas slightly more than Conservative ones. None can be found in areas represented by the Lib Dems.
- PE (Peterborough) is the most populous postcode district (pop: 890,223) without a domestic energy supplier located there.
The UK energy industry is quite complex. Very simply you have the generators (electricity) and transporters (gas), transmission network (one for electricity and one for gas), distribution network operators (again separate for gas and electricity) and finally you have the energy suppliers.
The energy suppliers are the companies you actually buy your electricity and gas from and who supply your home, although they may also be involved in other aspects of the industry.
Since privatisation, the industry has been dominated by the Big 6 (British Gas, SSE, E.ON, EDF, Scottish Power and npower) who control 78% domestic electricity market.
That means the other 169 companies supply only 22% of the market, although this has been steadily growing over time.
But where are the all located?
We used Ofgem’s List of all electricity licensees with registered or service addresses and only looked at companies that supplied domestic electricity to customers.
In total that gives 175 suppliers.
Therefore, the map above and the data below excludes companies that only supply gas as well as companies that only supply business customers. It is also based on registered or service addresses which is why the Big 6 all have UK addresses listed despite many of them being foreign owed: EDF (France), npower/E.ON (Germany) and Scottish Power (Spain).
We then broke down location by postcode and used 2map.co.uk to create the map.
Here is a more detailed look at some of the findings.
Energy Suppliers By Postcode City
| Postcode City | Number of Companies |
|---|---|
| London* | 25 |
| Preston | 12 |
| Nottingham | 9 |
| Coventry | 8 |
| Swindon | 8 |
| Bournemouth | 7 |
| Gloucester | 7 |
| York | 7 |
| Leeds | 6 |
| Worcester | 6 |
| Birmingham | 5 |
| Manchester | 5 |
| Reading | 4 |
| Blackpool | 3 |
| Bristol | 3 |
| Sheffield | 3 |
| Southampton | 3 |
| Warrington | 3 |
| Brighton | 2 |
| Cardiff | 2 |
| Dublin | 2 |
| Glasgow | 2 |
| Guildford | 2 |
| Milton Keynes | 2 |
| Newcastle | 2 |
| Oldham | 2 |
| Slough | 2 |
| Stevenage | 2 |
| Watford | 2 |
| Belfast | 1 |
| Bolton | 1 |
| Cleveland | 1 |
| Colchester | 1 |
| Crewe | 1 |
| Edinburgh | 1 |
| Enfield | 1 |
| Galashiels | 1 |
| Harrogate | 1 |
| Hemel Hempstead | 1 |
| Hull | 1 |
| Ilford | 1 |
| Ipswich | 1 |
| Kilmarnock | 1 |
| Lancaster | 1 |
| Leicester | 1 |
| Paisley | 1 |
| Perth | 1 |
| Portsmouth | 1 |
| Shrewsbury | 1 |
| Stockport | 1 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 1 |
| Swansea | 1 |
| Wakefield | 1 |
| Wigan | 1 |
Top 10 Postcodes
| Postcode | Number of Companies |
|---|---|
| PR7 | 10 |
| YO8 | 7 |
| GL54 | 6 |
| SN5 | 6 |
| WR1 | 5 |
| WA2 | 3 |
| RG1 | 3 |
| NG1 | 3 |
| CV1 | 3 |
| CV34 | 3 |
| BH1 | 3 |
Most Energy Companies Per Capita
| Postcode City | Number of people per company |
|---|---|
| Preston | 43,380 |
| Worcester | 47,902 |
| Swindon | 57,381 |
| Bournemouth | 78,855 |
| York | 80,348 |
| Gloucester | 86,546 |
| Coventry | 102,726 |
| Leeds | 129,030 |
| Nottingham | 129,243 |
| London* | 194,244 |
| Manchester | 233,480 |
| Birmingham | 380,932 |
Based on areas with at least 5 energy suppliers.
Number Companies By Postcode Based On Political Party At Westminster
| Political Party | Number of Comapnies |
|---|---|
| Labour | 85 |
| Conservative | 80 |
| SNP | 5 |
| DUP | 1 |
This is based on the 2017 election results and looks at which party represents the area at Westminster.
*All data for London is only based on the London postcode districts (N,E,EC,SE,SW,W,WC,NW).
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