Business energy and utilities for retailers
Whether you run one store or ten, retail bills are driven by lighting, heating and cooling, and by the packaging that comes in with every delivery. We bring every site’s contracts into one place and check each against its own usage.
- Every store’s meters and end dates on one list
- Packaging and cardboard set up for the recycling rules
- Card payments and EPOS compared across sites
How Helios helps retailers.
Several stores, deliveries of packaging and contracts that end on different dates. Helios keeps them all in one place.
Every store on one list
Each store’s meters, end dates and documents in one place, checked against its own usage rather than a chain average.
Packaging and cardboard collected
Cardboard, packaging and general waste collections that match your deliveries and the recycling rules where you trade.
Water across England, Wales and Scotland
Water rules differ by nation. We check which retailer serves each store and whether its tariff still suits you.
Card payments and funding
Card machine fees compared from your statements, and a cash advance set out in full if you need stock or a refit.
What retailers usually need from us
Where retail energy goes
The Carbon Trust’s retail guide picks out four areas: lighting; heating, ventilation and air conditioning; refrigeration; and the building fabric. For food retailers, its refrigeration guide puts refrigeration at around 50% of energy costs in food supermarkets.
Those loads differ from store to store, so we compare each site’s electricity and gas against its own bills, with day and night rates shown as printed.
Sources: Carbon Trust (2018), Carbon Trust (2011)
Packaging and cardboard: what recycling law requires
In England, Simpler Recycling requires paper and card to be collected separately from plastic, metal and glass unless the collector has a written assessment. The micro-firm extension to 31 March 2027 depends on having fewer than 10 full-time equivalent employees across the whole business, not per site, so a chain of small shops with 10 or more staff in total has been in scope since 31 March 2025.
In Wales, workplaces must also separate unsold textiles and small electricals, and from 6 April 2026 all small electricals, not just unsold items. That matters for clothing and electrical retailers.
Sources: GOV.UK, Welsh Government, Welsh Government
Business water across England, Wales and Scotland
In England, around 1.2 million non-household customers can choose their water retailer. In Wales, only customers using more than 50 million litres a year can switch, and Scotland has its own market where businesses choose a licensed provider. A chain with stores in more than one nation will have different options at different sites, and Ofwat’s draft guidance says each non-household premises should normally have its own supply point.
Sources: Ofwat, Ofwat (draft), mygov.scot
One store or a chain
A single store
See also our page for independent shops and convenience stores.
A small chain
Every store has its own meters and end dates. We map them, check each site on its own usage, and plan renewals so nothing lapses. See multi-site groups.
Protections that apply to retail businesses
Broker fees shown in your contract
Since 1 October 2024, the principal terms of a business energy contract must clearly show any broker fees.
Source: Ofgem
Standards for all business customers
Ofgem extended its Standards of Conduct to businesses of all sizes from 1 July 2024.
Source: Ofgem
Somewhere to take complaints
Small businesses can take unresolved supplier and broker complaints to the Energy Ombudsman. Helios is a member.
Source: Energy Ombudsman
Keeping every store’s contracts in order
For a chain, the biggest risk is a renewal date nobody was watching.
- Every meter, by store, with its end date and notice window
- Water supply points and retailers
- Waste collections per store
- Card machine contracts per store
- Phone lines used by alarms
What to send us
Send what you have and we will ask for anything else we need.
- A recent electricity and gas bill for each store
- Water bills
- Waste invoices
- Card machine statements
- A list of store addresses
How Helios looks after a retail business.
Here is how a retail business’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
Retail · 3 storesIllustration only- ElectricityStore 1 · High Street31/03/2027Renewal due
- ElectricityStore 2 · Retail park30/09/2027Live
- WasteCardboard, all stores31/12/2027Live
- WaterAll storesRollingLive
- Card machines6 terminals30/06/2027Live
What we may find
It depends on your bills. These are the things we check.
- A store running on out-of-contract rates
- Cardboard and plastic collected together without an assessment
- Card machines rented at closed or moved stores
- Different end dates that could be brought into line over time
Get a quote for your retail business
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 manage several stores’ energy contracts together?
Yes. Each store keeps its own meters and rates, but we keep all the end dates and notice windows in one place and quote each site against its own usage.
Do retailers have to separate cardboard and plastic?
In England, paper and card must be collected separately from plastic, metal and glass unless your collector has a written assessment that they can be collected together.
Is employers’ liability insurance compulsory for shop staff?
Yes, once you employ staff, with cover of at least £5 million. The certificate must be displayed where staff can read it, which can be electronic.
Should stock be insured at retail price?
The ABI says stock should be insured at cost price, not sale price. We introduce you to FCA-authorised partner brokers, who arrange the cover.
Bring your retail business 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.
