Energy firm owner in administration

THE owner of a Bath energy supplier which collapsed amid rising global wholesale prices has entered administration.

Blue Marble Holdings Limited (BMHL), which has 100% ownership of Pure Planet, has appointed Eddie Williams, Toby Banfield and Mike Jervis of PwC as administrators, while Mr Williams and Mr Banfield, together with Ross Connock, will oversee the winding up of Pure Planet.

BMHL is a holding company, employing 197 staff in addition to having a number of key contracts.

Pure Planet said the reason it had ceased trading was because current UK rules had “forced” the business to sell energy at prices “way below the true cost”. It had 235,000 customers at the time.

Energy watchdog Ofgem has transferred Pure Planet’s customers to Shell Energy through the Supplier of Last Resort (SOLR) process.

Mr Williams, who is a 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.

“We would like to thank management, employees, key stakeholders, Ofgem and Shell Energy as the incoming SOLR for their work and support over the last week during an intense period for the group and the whole industry. I would also like to thank Carl Allen and the Eversheds Sutherland’s Restructuring and Insolvency team for their support.”

There are no redundancies currently being announced, the administrators said.