Business energy and utilities for restaurants
Kitchens, extraction and refrigeration make restaurants some of the heaviest energy users on the high street. We look after electricity, gas, water, waste, card payments and phone lines for restaurants across the UK, with one point of contact and no blended rates.
- Electricity and gas quoted separately, with day and night rates shown as printed
- Contract end dates and notice windows checked before we quote
- Food waste and recycling set up for the rules where you trade
How Helios helps restaurants.
Kitchens, refrigeration and long service hours make restaurants heavy users. Joining Helios puts every contract in one place, checked against your own bills.
One contact for the whole restaurant
Electricity, gas, water, waste, card machines and insurance renewals on one list, with one person to call instead of six suppliers.
Night rates that suit your refrigeration
Fridges and cold rooms run all night, so we compare day and night rates exactly as printed, never as one blended price.
Food waste set up for the rules
Food, glass, cardboard and general waste collected to suit your covers and the recycling rules where you trade.
No more rollover rates
We track every end date and notice window, so contracts are renewed on time rather than drifting onto out-of-contract rates.
What restaurants usually need from us
Most restaurants hold a separate contract for each of these, each with its own renewal date.
Business electricity
Refrigeration, extraction, lighting and long service hours. Day and night rates shown separately.
Business gas
Ranges, ovens, heating and hot water. Quoted on its own, never blended with electricity.
Business water
Kitchens and washrooms use a lot of water. In England you can choose your water retailer.
Waste and recycling
General waste, food waste, glass, cardboard and dry mixed recycling, collected to suit your service.
Where restaurant costs build up
The kitchen runs all day
The Carbon Trust says kitchens consume large amounts of energy in hospitality, and that typically 65% of the energy supplied by cooking equipment is extracted through the canopy as heat.
Source: Carbon Trust (2018)
Refrigeration never switches off
The Carbon Trust calls refrigeration a significant energy user in hospitality. It runs day and night, so your night rate matters as much as your day rate.
Source: Carbon Trust (2018)
Contracts roll over quietly
If a fixed contract ends with nothing new agreed, you can move onto out-of-contract or deemed rates, which Ofgem says are usually higher than negotiated rates.
Source: Ofgem
Food waste and recycling rules for restaurants
In England, Simpler Recycling has applied to workplaces since 31 March 2025. Dry recyclables, food waste and general waste must be kept apart before collection, and paper and card must be collected separately from plastic, metal and glass unless your collector has a written assessment allowing them to be collected together. Businesses with fewer than 10 full-time equivalent employees, counted across the whole business, have until 31 March 2027.
In Wales, workplaces have separated their recycling since 6 April 2024, and premises producing 5kg or more of food waste in any seven days must present it separately. No food waste of any amount may go down a sink or drain. In Scotland, food businesses producing more than 5kg of food waste a week in non-rural areas must present it for separate collection.
Cooking oil must never go down the drain. We arrange its collection through a licensed partner, who collects the oil; Helios acts only as the broker. Tell us roughly how much you produce.
Sources: GOV.UK, Welsh Government, Zero Waste Scotland
Card machines, EPOS and funding from card takings
UK Finance reports that in 2025, 39% of all UK payments were contactless and cash made up 8%. For most restaurants that makes the card machine contract a cost worth checking line by line: transaction fees, monthly rental, contract length and exit terms.
A merchant cash advance is funding repaid from a percentage of your card sales. The British Business Bank names restaurants among the businesses that use one and says a typical deduction can be around 10% of each card sale. It also warns that the fees can make it more costly than other funding, so we set the terms out in full before you apply. See cash advance for how it works.
Sources: UK Finance, British Business Bank
One restaurant or a group
A single restaurant
Usually one electricity meter, one gas meter and a handful of collections. We check each end date, then quote electricity and gas separately against your own usage.
Several restaurants
Every site has its own meters, usage and end dates. We check each site against its own consumption, not a group average. See multi-site groups.
Keeping contracts and documents in order
Before we quote, we put every contract on one list so nothing renews unnoticed.
- Supplier and contract end date for each meter
- Notice window: the last date to act
- Unit rates and standing charges exactly as printed
- Waste collection days, bin sizes and lifts per week
- Card machine contract length and exit terms
What to send us
Send what you have and we will ask for anything else we need.
- A recent electricity bill and a recent gas bill (all pages)
- Your latest water bill
- Your waste invoice or collection schedule
- Your last one to three card machine statements
- Contract end dates and notice windows, if you have them
How Helios looks after a restaurant.
Here is how a restaurant’s contracts look in the Helios portal: every service, every end date and every document in one place.
- One contact for every service and every site
- Every end date and notice window tracked, with reminders
- Rates exactly as printed: electricity and gas always quoted separately
- Contracts, documents and meter readings in your Helios portal
Restaurant · Market StreetIllustration only- ElectricityDay and night rates31/03/2027Renewal due
- GasRanges and hot water31/03/2027Renewal due
- WasteFood, glass and general31/01/2028Live
- WaterKitchen and washroomsRollingLive
- Card machines2 portable terminals14/11/2027Live
What we may find when we review your bills
Nothing here is guaranteed: it depends on your bills and contracts. These are the things we check.
- Contracts running on out-of-contract or deemed rates
- Notice windows that are about to close
- Estimated bills where readings are not being used
- Waste collections that no longer match your bins
- Phone lines you pay for but no longer use
- Card machine fees that have changed since you signed
Get a quote for your restaurant
Tell us about your business and we’ll be in touch. We check your contract end dates and notice windows before we quote.
Prefer to talk? Call 020 4628 5727, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get one contract for both gas and electricity?
You can enter into a gas contract and an electricity contract with the same supplier, but they remain two separate contracts, each with its own rates. We always quote them separately so you can see each price on its own.
Do restaurants pay 20% VAT on energy?
Usually, yes: business fuel and power is standard rated unless it qualifies for the reduced rate. Very low-use supplies can fall under the de minimis rules in HMRC VAT Notice 701/19. Your bill shows which rate you are paying.
Do small restaurants have to separate food waste?
In England, businesses with fewer than 10 full-time equivalent employees have until 31 March 2027 to comply with Simpler Recycling; larger businesses have had to since 31 March 2025. In Wales the rules have applied since 6 April 2024 where you produce 5kg or more of food waste a week.
We are already out of contract. What now?
Send us your latest bills and we will look at your options straight away. There is no cooling-off period once you agree a business energy contract, so we go through the terms with you before you sign.
Bring your restaurant into one place.
Send us a recent bill and we will start with your contract dates and prices. Add the rest of your services whenever you are ready.
