Iresa Energy went bust on the 13th September 2018 affecting 90,000 customers. Get a full list of energy suppliers that have gone bust here.
Iresa Energy is now owned by Octopus Energy. However we have left their company overview below for research purposes.
IRESA is a new independent UK gas and electricity supplier based in Nottingham. They began taking on customers in March 2016 and passed CME (Controlled Market Entry) in August 2016.
Their stated aim is to focus on price and quality of service. In addition they state their core values as being;
- Integrity
- Passionate about our customers and people
- Measure success through sustainable customer satisfaction and energy affordability
Their goal is to create their own proprietary technology, rather than paying a third party for outsourced systems or operations, which "will save money with the hopes of passing it down to the customers."
While their prices are certainly competitive, Iresa Energy, like many of the growing number of new suppliers that have entered the market recently, is very much an unproven entity. We are great believers in competition and also hugely admire the entrepreneurial spirit (we have built two start-ups ourselves) However, there are several things about IRESA Energy that make us cautious.
Firstly, they are too enthusiastic in taking money from the customer's account. Your first direct debit is taken from your account 3 days after the cooling off period. This is at least 10-12 days before the supply of energy even starts to your home. This means that you, the customer, are basically funding the working capital to run the business.
Secondly, the company has minimal financial backing. It has equity capital of just £1 (one British pound). While it appears to have built up some trading revenue and assets in its first year of operations, those financial assets have subsequently been depleted. To year-end 31 December 2015, the company reported negative net assets of (£89,167). It is not unusual for a start up to incur losses; most do in the start up phase. However, with equity capital insufficient to cover these losses, it means that, should Iresa Energy get into financial difficulties, then customers who have paid in advance, as unsecured creditors, risk losing those payments. Iresa is also reliant on upfront payments from customers to fund its growth and should customers ever wish to get back their excess deposits (as is their right) then Iresa could find itself with an unpleasant whole in its balance sheet.
Finally, we support their ambition to build their own technology to run their business. But building technology is not without its own risks. If it works they will probably earn a small fortune selling it to other energy suppliers. But if it doesn't....?
IRESA Energy is a very new gas and electricity supplier that entered the domestic energy supply market in March 2016.
The Company operates from offices in Nottingham.
IRESA offers a simple range of energy tariffs for customers who primarily want to pay by Monthly Direct Debit and to manage their account online.
IRESA Energy offers electricity only and dual fuel tariffs. It does not currently offer a gas only tariff.
IRESA Energy also offers a prepayment meter tariff.
IRESA Energy is not signed up to the Warm Home Discount scheme.
IRESA Energy will take you your first direct debit payment in advance, at least 10 days before you come on supply.
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