The administrators of Bath energy supplier Pure Planet, which last week became the latest victim of the wholesale gas price surge, have said their first priority is to support its 235,000 customers.
But they also pledged to Pure Planet's 197 staff – none of which have so far been made redundant.
Eddie Williams, Toby Banfield and Mike Jervis of accountancy group PwC were this week appointed as joint administrators of Blue Marble Holdings, the parent company of Pure Planet, which employed its staff and held a number of key contracts.
Pure Planet itself has also entered administration, with Mr Williams, Mr Banfield and Ross Connock also from PwC, appointed as joint administrators.
PwC said the move provided continuity and stability for the group’s customers – known as members – and creditors and followed on from the immediate transfer of Pure Planet’s customers to Shell Energy through the Supplier of Last Resort (SOLR) process.
Mr Williams, a partner at PwC partner, said: “The current challenges facing the domestic energy market due to the spike in wholesale prices have been well documented.
“Against this backdrop, the group faced significant liquidity challenges, leading to a position where the business was unable to continue operating.”
He thanked the group’s management, employees, key stakeholders, energy watchdog Ofgem and Shell Energy – as the incoming Supplier of Last Resort – for their work and support over the past week “during an intense period for the group and the whole industry.”
He added: “Our initial priority as administrators is to work closely with Shell Energy, the incoming supplier for Pure Planet’s members on an orderly and efficient transition and to provide ongoing support around this process.
“The transfer is very well-established to ensure there is no disruption to customers’ energy supplies.”
PwC said the joint administrators were also focussed on supporting employees and any questions they may have, adding that there were no redundancies currently being announced.
Pure Planet became Britain’s first digital green energy supplier when it was launched in 2015 by some of the UK mobile telecoms industry’s most experienced executives.
It attracted more than a quarter of a million customers as well as a string of awards for its ethical stance and use of smart technology.
However oil giant BP, which had backed the firm, withdrew its support citing a risk of “large potential losses” if it continued to operate while gas wholesale prices were high.
As reported by Bath Business News, Pure Planet’s three co-founders Andrew Ralston, Chris Alliott and Steven Day slammed the Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng’s decision not financially to support energy suppliers, around 15 of which have now gone bust.
Blaming the energy price cap for the firm’s collapse, they said they were “being forced to lose money through a combination of sky-rocketing global wholesale energy prices clashing with a domestic staid government and regulatory policy – the price cap”.
BP said it had worked to support Pure Planet and had given financial support through wholesale supply and other funding arrangements.
