Partner Article

Spark Energy partners with three bill splitting companies

Spark Energy, the niche utility company for the lettings market, has made a major foray into the bill splitting market after forming preferred supplier partnerships with three leading businesses in the sector.

Split The Bills, DividaBill and BillHub each offer a service which manage bills for tenants in shared houses, making it easier for residents to pay for things like gas, electricity, internet, council tax and rates.

The companies have chosen Spark to be their gas and electricity suppliers so when users sign up to their service, they will have access to one of Spark’s competitive tariffs.

Each tenant pays a portion of the overall bill by direct debit, covering all of the utilities in their home, preventing disputes between flatmates and stopping them from falling into debt to one another.

Flatmates can view bills online through their bill-splitting provider and can regularly update meter readings to increase accuracy.

The partnerships are targeted at students and young professionals living in shared accommodation. The services are also attractive to people keen to save time which would otherwise be spent dealing with administration with various different utility suppliers.

Chris Gauld, chief executive at Spark Energy, said: “These companies each provide a fantastic service for their customers, offering convenience and ease when dealing with lots of different bills.

“Spark works extremely closely with the lettings market across the UK so partnerships such as this align very well with our business ethos.

“As a smaller supplier, we are able to easily work alongside these companies, adapting to their requirements much easier than the larger Big Six firms.

“Overall, they will be huge benefit for customers, saving time and preventing stress which can be associated with having to settle lots of bills in a shared house.”

Spark Energy’s existing customers are eligible to sign up to any of the services.

Split The Bills was founded in 2011 but Ashley Tate, while he was living with friends in a student house. The company now has more than 40 employees and 15,000 customers, becoming the market-leader in the sector.

Ashley, director of the company, left school at the age 16 and set up a student lettings agent, Fit Property which he still he is still the major shareholder and investor.

Speaking about the new partnership, Ashely Tate, director at Split The Bills, said: “We’re excited to be working with a small and dynamic supplier like Spark.

“The provider was attractive due to its versatility and ability to adapt quickly to the requirements of Split The Bills. Working with this type of business is much easier than a Big Six supplier and we look forward to developing this relationship.”

BillHub was founded shortly after Split The Bills, they are unique in the industry in that they have focused on technology, enabling them to offer a beautifully designed and user friendly free platform, which is propelling them into the limelight as one of the hottest Financial Tech startups in London at the moment.

Speaking about household finances, James Harrison, Managing Director at BillHub, said “BillHub is the smart way to do household finances.

“We have develop a unique digital platform where household finances are stored, paid for and managed all in one place, making it convenient to stay in control of your costs and ditch the arguments over bills many house sharers have had the displeasure of experiencing.”

Jon Akass and Saumeel Pachigar, flatmates at the University of Southampton co-founded Dividabill to stop their endless rows about utility bills in 2014. Now headquartered in the heart of Tech City in London, Dividabill is focused on a customer experience led solution to the utility market.

The vision has led to a host of awards, including the Shell Livewire Grand Ideas Award and Set Squared Partnership Best Graduate Enterprise Award 2015 sponsored by Grant Thornton.

Spark is the only energy supply company in the UK to focus on the lettings market. Based in Selkirk in the Scottish Borders, the firm employs around 300 staff who manage a client base extending across the UK.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by tim malseed .