Battle · 8 companies

Energy suppliers

Full power, or running on empty?

Octopus Energy leads on turnover and growth; British Gas on pre-tax profit and net assets; Utility Warehouse on profit margin. Octopus Energy is the biggest by turnover at £13,683m, against £13,642m at British Gas. Utility Warehouse keeps the most of every £100 it takes, £5.82 as pre-tax profit.

The year ends are up to 15 months apart, so this compares each company's most recent filing rather than the same twelve months. Octopus Energy, OVO Energy and Utility Warehouse file group accounts that include subsidiaries; British Gas, E.ON Next, EDF, ScottishPower and So Energy file for a single company, which flatters the groups on size.

Spark Intel Research Desk·Last updated ·Source: Companies House filed accounts

Accounts compared: British Gas to Dec 2025 · Octopus Energy to Apr 2025 · OVO Energy to Dec 2025 · E.ON Next to Dec 2025 · EDF to Dec 2025 · ScottishPower to Dec 2025 · So Energy to Dec 2024 · Utility Warehouse to Mar 2026

Biggest by turnover

Octopus Energy

£13,683m

Highest profit margin

Utility Warehouse

5.8%

Fastest-growing turnover

Octopus Energy

+10.1%

The Numbers

#CompanyTurnoverChangePre-tax profitMarginEmployeesPay per headTurnover per headNet assetsBank and cashAccounts toBasis
1 Octopus EnergyOctopus Energy Group Limited £13,683m +10.1% -£260m -1.9% 10,030 £49,000 £1.4m £1,482m £1,512m Apr 2025 Group
2 British GasBritish Gas Trading Limited £13,642m -6.1% £575m 4.2% 6,714 £57,000 £2.0m £1,696m £0.2m Dec 2025 Single company
3 EDFEDF Energy Customers Limited £13,054m -4.4% £294m 2.3% 3,631 n/d n/d £737m £1,059m Dec 2025 Single company
4 E.ON NextE.On Next Energy Limited £7,367m -7.2% -£50m -0.7% 4,020 £43,000 £1.8m £175m £251m Dec 2025 Single company
5 OVO EnergyOVO Group Ltd £5,156m -6.8% £121m 2.3% 4,304 £54,000 £1.2m £81m £248m Dec 2025 Group
6 ScottishPowerScottishPower Energy Retail Limited £3,971m -15.3% £62m 1.6% 968 n/d n/d £152m £10m Dec 2025 Single company
7 Utility WarehouseTelecom Plus PLC £1,941m +5.6% £113m 5.8% 2,061 £54,000 £942,000 £267m £91m Mar 2026 Group
8 So EnergySo Energy Trading Limited £636m -27.2% -£5m -0.8% 492 £51,000 £1.3m -£246m £13m Dec 2024 Single company

Ranked by turnover. Click any column to sort. The leader on each measure is highlighted. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).

Category winners

Biggest by turnover

Octopus Energy

£13,683m

Most pre-tax profit

British Gas

£575m

Highest profit margin

Utility Warehouse

5.8%

Fastest-growing turnover

Octopus Energy

+10.1%

Biggest employer

Octopus Energy

10,030 staff

Highest pay per head

British Gas

£57,000

Most turnover per head

British Gas

£2.0m

Largest net assets

British Gas

£1,696m

Most cash

Octopus Energy

£1,512m

The Takeaway

  1. Utility Warehouse converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £5.82 reaches pre-tax profit, against a loss of £1.90 at Octopus Energy.
  2. Octopus Energy is the largest on the top line, £13,683m of turnover, 1.0x British Gas's £13,642m.
  3. Octopus Energy is growing fastest, turnover +10.1% on its own prior year. British Gas, OVO Energy, E.ON Next, EDF, ScottishPower and So Energy went backwards.
  4. Octopus Energy is the biggest employer with 10,030 people; British Gas pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £57,000.
  5. British Gas has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £1,696m, while Octopus Energy holds the most cash at £1,512m.

Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?

Utility Warehouse keeps the most: £5.82 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. Octopus Energy does worst, losing £1.90.

Financing bites hardest at So Energy: £2.15 of every £100 goes on interest.

Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.

The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.

Out of every £100 of turnover

£0£100 Utility WarehouseMar 2026 · £1,941mPayroll: £5.73 of every £100Financing: £0.79 of every £100Other costs: £87.66 of every £100£87.66Profit: £5.82 of every £100Profit £5.82British GasDec 2025 · £13,642mPayroll: £2.81 of every £100Financing: £0.14 of every £100Other costs: £92.83 of every £100£92.83Profit: £4.22 of every £100Profit £4.22OVO EnergyDec 2025 · £5,156mPayroll: £4.54 of every £100Financing: £0.23 of every £100Other costs: £92.88 of every £100£92.88Profit: £2.35 of every £100Profit £2.35EDFDec 2025 · £13,054mPayroll: £1.68 of every £100Financing: £0.01 of every £100Other costs: £96.06 of every £100£96.06Profit: £2.25 of every £100Profit £2.25ScottishPowerDec 2025 · £3,971mPayroll: £1.83 of every £100Financing: £0.07 of every £100Other costs: £96.54 of every £100£96.54Profit: £1.56 of every £100Profit £1.56E.ON NextDec 2025 · £7,367mPayroll: £2.36 of every £100Financing: £0.10 of every £100Other costs: £98.22 of every £100£98.22Loss (the costs beyond £100): £0.68 of every £100Loss £0.68So EnergyDec 2024 · £636mPayroll: £3.92 of every £100Financing: £2.15 of every £100Other costs: £94.74 of every £100£94.74Loss (the costs beyond £100): £0.82 of every £100Loss £0.82Octopus EnergyApr 2025 · £13,683mPayroll: £3.60 of every £100Financing: £0.26 of every £100Other costs: £98.05 of every £100£98.05Loss (the costs beyond £100): £1.90 of every £100Loss £1.90
Payroll (staff costs)Financing (interest paid)Other running costsPre-tax profitLoss: the costs beyond £100

Each bar is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.

Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?

By turnover the order is Octopus Energy (£13,683m), British Gas (£13,642m), EDF (£13,054m), E.ON Next (£7,367m), OVO Energy (£5,156m), ScottishPower (£3,971m), Utility Warehouse (£1,941m), So Energy (£636m).

By headcount, Octopus Energy leads with 10,030 employees.

The comparison holds with the dates stated plainly: British Gas to Dec 2025, Octopus Energy to Apr 2025, OVO Energy to Dec 2025, E.ON Next to Dec 2025, EDF to Dec 2025, ScottishPower to Dec 2025, So Energy to Dec 2024, Utility Warehouse to Mar 2026. The bases differ: group accounts include the businesses a company owns, single-company accounts do not.

Octopus Energy£13,683mBritish Gas£13,642mEDF£13,054mE.ON Next£7,367mOVO Energy£5,156mScottishPower£3,971mUtility Warehouse£1,941mSo Energy£636m

Turnover on the latest filing

Who is growing fastest?

Octopus Energy grew fastest, turnover +10.1% on its own prior year, ahead of Utility Warehouse (+5.6%), EDF (-4.4%), British Gas (-6.1%), OVO Energy (-6.8%), E.ON Next (-7.2%), ScottishPower (-15.3%), So Energy (-27.2%).

Octopus Energy+10.1%Utility Warehouse+5.6%EDF-4.4%British Gas-6.1%OVO Energy-6.8%E.ON Next-7.2%ScottishPower-15.3%So Energy-27.2%

Turnover change on each company's own prior year

Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?

Octopus Energy employs the most, 10,030 people, against 6,714 at British Gas.

British Gas has the highest average staff cost, about £57,000 a head; E.ON Next the lowest, about £43,000.

British Gas brings in the most turnover per employee, about £2.0m, against £942,000 at Utility Warehouse. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.

Per-head figures are left out for EDF (staff costs under 2% of turnover) and ScottishPower (staff costs under 2% of turnover): the staff are probably employed by another company in the group, so dividing by this company's headcount would mislead.

British Gas

6,714

employees, about £57,000 pay a head, £2.0m turnover a head, -3.7% on the year

Octopus Energy

10,030

employees, about £49,000 pay a head, £1.4m turnover a head, +55.8% on the year

OVO Energy

4,304

employees, about £54,000 pay a head, £1.2m turnover a head, -15.6% on the year

E.ON Next

4,020

employees, about £43,000 pay a head, £1.8m turnover a head, +4.4% on the year

EDF

3,631

employees, -2.1% on the year

ScottishPower

968

employees, +3.9% on the year

So Energy

492

employees, about £51,000 pay a head, £1.3m turnover a head, +11.3% on the year

Utility Warehouse

2,061

employees, about £54,000 pay a head, £942,000 turnover a head, -10.0% on the year

Who owns each one?

Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.

British Gas Trading Limited · 03078711

Held by Gb Gas Holdings Limited

A company recorded as a person with significant control. 1 outstanding charge on the register.

Who owns British Gas →

Octopus Energy Group Limited · 09718624

Held by Octopus Energy Topco Limited

A company recorded as a person with significant control. 10 outstanding charges on the register.

Who owns Octopus Energy →

OVO Group Ltd · 10722770

Held by Ovo Holdings Ltd

A company recorded as a person with significant control. 7 outstanding charges on the register.

Who owns OVO Energy →

E.On Next Energy Limited · 03782443

Held by E.On Uk Limited

A company recorded as a person with significant control.

Who owns E.ON Next →

EDF Energy Customers Limited · 02228297

Held by Edf Energy Limited

A company recorded as a person with significant control.

Who owns EDF →

ScottishPower Energy Retail Limited · SC190287

Held by Scottish Power Retail Holdings Limited

A company recorded as a person with significant control.

Who owns ScottishPower →

So Energy Trading Limited · 09263295

Held by So Energy Limited

A company recorded as a person with significant control. 2 outstanding charges on the register.

Who owns So Energy →

Telecom Plus PLC · 03263464

Owned by its shareholders

Listed on the London Stock Exchange, so no single controller appears on the register. 6 outstanding charges on the register.

Who owns Utility Warehouse →

What does the full ledger show?

MeasureBritish GasOctopus EnergyOVO EnergyE.ON NextEDFScottishPowerSo EnergyUtility Warehouse
Registered nameBRITISH GAS TRADING LIMITEDOCTOPUS ENERGY GROUP LIMITEDOVO GROUP LTDE.ON NEXT ENERGY LIMITEDEDF ENERGY CUSTOMERS LIMITEDSCOTTISHPOWER ENERGY RETAIL LIMITEDSO ENERGY TRADING LIMITEDTELECOM PLUS PLC
Company number0307871109718624107227700378244302228297SC1902870926329503263464
Incorporated19952015201719991988199820141996
Accounts filed4 October 20269 January 202619 August 20261 October 202621 July 202625 September 20263 October 202514 September 2026
Turnover, prior year£14,523m£12,433m£5,530m£7,941m£13,652m£4,690m£874m£1,838m
Pre-tax profit, prior year£477m£78m-£166m£24m£436m£244m-£26m£106m
Staff costs£383m£492m£234m£174m£219m£73m£25m£111m
Payroll share of turnover2.8%3.6%4.5%2.4%1.7%1.8%3.9%5.7%
Employees, prior year6,9706,4385,0993,8523,7089324422,291
Dividends paid£1,989mn/dn/dn/dn/dn/dn/d£76m
Charges outstanding110700026

A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.

Energy suppliers: common questions

Who is the biggest of British Gas, Octopus Energy, OVO Energy, E.ON Next, EDF, ScottishPower, So Energy or Utility Warehouse?

Octopus Energy, with turnover of £13,683m in the year to April 2025.

Which makes the most profit?

British Gas: £575m pre-tax in the year to December 2025.

Which employs the most people?

Octopus Energy, with 10,030 employees in its latest accounts.

British Gas or Octopus Energy: which is bigger?

Octopus Energy, with turnover of £13,683m against £13,642m at British Gas on their latest filings. On margin, British Gas keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →

British Gas or OVO Energy: which is bigger?

British Gas, with turnover of £13,642m against £5,156m at OVO Energy on their latest filings. On margin, British Gas keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

British Gas or E.ON Next: which is bigger?

British Gas, with turnover of £13,642m against £7,367m at E.ON Next on their latest filings. On margin, British Gas keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

British Gas or EDF: which is bigger?

British Gas, with turnover of £13,642m against £13,054m at EDF on their latest filings. On margin, British Gas keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

British Gas or ScottishPower: which is bigger?

British Gas, with turnover of £13,642m against £3,971m at ScottishPower on their latest filings. On margin, British Gas keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

British Gas or So Energy: which is bigger?

British Gas, with turnover of £13,642m against £636m at So Energy on their latest filings. On margin, British Gas keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

British Gas or Utility Warehouse: which is bigger?

British Gas, with turnover of £13,642m against £1,941m at Utility Warehouse on their latest filings. On margin, Utility Warehouse keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Octopus Energy or OVO Energy: which is bigger?

Octopus Energy, with turnover of £13,683m against £5,156m at OVO Energy on their latest filings. On margin, OVO Energy keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Octopus Energy or E.ON Next: which is bigger?

Octopus Energy, with turnover of £13,683m against £7,367m at E.ON Next on their latest filings. On margin, E.ON Next keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →

Octopus Energy or EDF: which is bigger?

Octopus Energy, with turnover of £13,683m against £13,054m at EDF on their latest filings. On margin, EDF keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Octopus Energy or ScottishPower: which is bigger?

Octopus Energy, with turnover of £13,683m against £3,971m at ScottishPower on their latest filings. On margin, ScottishPower keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Octopus Energy or So Energy: which is bigger?

Octopus Energy, with turnover of £13,683m against £636m at So Energy on their latest filings. On margin, So Energy keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Octopus Energy or Utility Warehouse: which is bigger?

Octopus Energy, with turnover of £13,683m against £1,941m at Utility Warehouse on their latest filings. On margin, Utility Warehouse keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

OVO Energy or E.ON Next: which is bigger?

E.ON Next, with turnover of £7,367m against £5,156m at OVO Energy on their latest filings. On margin, OVO Energy keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

OVO Energy or EDF: which is bigger?

EDF, with turnover of £13,054m against £5,156m at OVO Energy on their latest filings. On margin, OVO Energy keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

OVO Energy or ScottishPower: which is bigger?

OVO Energy, with turnover of £5,156m against £3,971m at ScottishPower on their latest filings. On margin, OVO Energy keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

OVO Energy or So Energy: which is bigger?

OVO Energy, with turnover of £5,156m against £636m at So Energy on their latest filings. On margin, OVO Energy keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

OVO Energy or Utility Warehouse: which is bigger?

OVO Energy, with turnover of £5,156m against £1,941m at Utility Warehouse on their latest filings. On margin, Utility Warehouse keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

E.ON Next or EDF: which is bigger?

EDF, with turnover of £13,054m against £7,367m at E.ON Next on their latest filings. On margin, EDF keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →

E.ON Next or ScottishPower: which is bigger?

E.ON Next, with turnover of £7,367m against £3,971m at ScottishPower on their latest filings. On margin, ScottishPower keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

E.ON Next or So Energy: which is bigger?

E.ON Next, with turnover of £7,367m against £636m at So Energy on their latest filings. On margin, E.ON Next keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

E.ON Next or Utility Warehouse: which is bigger?

E.ON Next, with turnover of £7,367m against £1,941m at Utility Warehouse on their latest filings. On margin, Utility Warehouse keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

EDF or ScottishPower: which is bigger?

EDF, with turnover of £13,054m against £3,971m at ScottishPower on their latest filings. On margin, EDF keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

EDF or So Energy: which is bigger?

EDF, with turnover of £13,054m against £636m at So Energy on their latest filings. On margin, EDF keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

EDF or Utility Warehouse: which is bigger?

EDF, with turnover of £13,054m against £1,941m at Utility Warehouse on their latest filings. On margin, Utility Warehouse keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

ScottishPower or So Energy: which is bigger?

ScottishPower, with turnover of £3,971m against £636m at So Energy on their latest filings. On margin, ScottishPower keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

ScottishPower or Utility Warehouse: which is bigger?

ScottishPower, with turnover of £3,971m against £1,941m at Utility Warehouse on their latest filings. On margin, Utility Warehouse keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

So Energy or Utility Warehouse: which is bigger?

Utility Warehouse, with turnover of £1,941m against £636m at So Energy on their latest filings. On margin, Utility Warehouse keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.

Where do these figures come from?

Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.

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