When your business moves premises, tell the existing energy suppliers at both sites, record the handover readings and confirm who is responsible for each account. Arrange the new premises' supply contract separately from closing the old accounts. This guide helps businesses moving within Great Britain organise the evidence and avoid confusing an agreed move date with a completed supplier transfer.
Identify the supplies before the move
Ask the landlord, managing agent or outgoing occupier which electricity and gas supplies serve your new premises. Check whether you will hold the supplier accounts directly or receive charges through the landlord. Do not assume that a familiar company name on an old bill identifies every supply at the site.
Collect the supply identifiers and match them to the relevant units or buildings. Our guide to MPANs, MPRNs and meter serial numbers explains the distinction. Note any communal areas or separate meters needing clarification before asking for prices.
Keep a record for the old premises as well. Assign someone to follow the outgoing accounts through to the final invoices, even if another person handles the new site's energy enquiry.
Tell the suppliers about the change of tenancy
A change of tenancy (CoT) is the process of telling suppliers that responsibility for a premises' energy supply has changed. Ofgem's business guidance says both incoming and outgoing businesses should inform the property's current supplier promptly, including when discussing a contract with a different supplier.
Prepare the legal business name, site address, relevant dates and supporting evidence. The supplier may request a lease, sale document or other evidence. Ask which documents it needs and provide them through its verified contact channel.
If you are changing supplier at the new premises, notify both the existing and proposed supplier. Keep their acknowledgements together. The date you collect keys, the first day of trading and the date responsibility begins may differ; identify the dates clearly rather than using “moving day” for all three.
Take readings and keep a handover record
For each site, aim to retain:
- Dated opening or closing readings for every relevant register.
- Photographs showing the meter display and serial number, where safe to obtain.
- The date responsibility starts or ends, supported by the relevant documents.
- Details of the incoming or outgoing occupier and landlord where requested.
- A forwarding address and contact for the final account.
- Supplier case references and any questions still outstanding.
British Gas business's moving guide illustrates the information a supplier may request, including readings, occupancy evidence and forwarding details. Check your own supplier's process. Do not open sealed equipment or enter an unsafe meter area to obtain a photograph; explain any access problem to the supplier.
Arrange the new contract without assuming a transfer
Ask whether the old agreement can move with the business and how the supplier will handle it. Do not assume a contract follows you automatically or that signing a new agreement closes the old account.
Ofgem explains that you are responsible for energy used before your new contract starts and may be supplied on deemed rates during that period. Ask the existing supplier which prices and terms apply while the change is processed. Our deemed-rates guide explains that arrangement and how it differs from out-of-contract terms.
Compare quotations using the correct new-site information, not simply the consumption from the building you are leaving. Different heating, opening hours or equipment may change the requirement. BBA Energy's procurement and meter-coordination services can help organise these enquiries.
Check both sides of the move are complete
Hypothetical example: a business accepts a contract for its new unit starting in November but hands back its old unit in October. The new agreement does not establish that the old supplier has recorded the handback. Track those two actions separately.
Check the old site's final invoice against the accepted closing date and reading. Check the new site's opening invoice against the confirmed responsibility date, reading and contract start. If a supplier rejects the change or asks for more evidence, request the reason and next step in writing.
For a construction-site handover, use the temporary-supply guide alongside this occupancy checklist. For disputed charges, use the bill-query checklist. Keep the issue open until the account position is understood, rather than closing your records after an acknowledgement alone.