The impact of COVID-19 on microbusinesses: longitudinal research
Reports, plans and updates
Publication date
Industry sector
Supply and Retail Market
Main points
- Many microbusiness consumers said that they needed to adapt to circumstances during the pandemic which meant that they were less engaged with the changes in energy. This increased the risk of bill shock.
- Some microbusinesses did well during the pandemic, but others struggled and a few had a lot of difficulties with affording energy at that time.
- Some microbusinesses assumed that non-domestic consumers receive similar protections as domestic consumers do in the energy market.
- The microbusinesses in this research reported that their energy suppliers had not been particularly proactive in communicating with them during the pandemic, for example on how they can get support if they are struggling to pay for the energy they use.
- The small number of microbusinesses we spoke to who had contacted their supplier about problems with paying bills reported they typically had negative experiences and they felt unsupported.
The results in this report reflect the views of those microbusinesses included in this study. Given the qualitative nature of the research, the findings should not be considered representative of the full population of microbusinesses in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).
While the research was conducted in 2021, it is being published now as part of a wider evidence base about non-domestic consumers’ recent experiences.
Methodology
Ofgem and Citizens Advice commissioned Blue Marble Research to conduct a 6-month qualitative longitudinal research project with microbusinesses during the pandemic. This involved three waves of interviews between January 2021 and June 2021 with approximately 30 microbusinesses from across Great Britain.