The ‘Top 5 tips for reducing energy bills’ is brought to you in association with Make It Cheaper.

Make It Cheaper is the UK’s leading business price comparison and switching service, handling over 2,000 enquiries a week. It provides its customers with impartial, comprehensive and free information about overheads such as business electricity and business gas helping you to switch suppliers and making sure you are not caught out by the small print.

What many businesses are waking up to is that there is no such thing as customer loyalty with energy suppliers and by staying with one company from one year to the next you’ll end up paying higher rates. With 11,000 different business energy tariffs ranging threefold in price switching once a year is the only way to stick on the better rates. Here’s are some tips to help you.

Establish Contract Status

• Call your supplier to clarify your contract status, the unit price you’re paying and the date of your next renewal period. It’s actually better for a business to be in a contract than not. ‘Out-of-Contract’ rates are the highest rates you will ever pay. So, for example, if you’ve just taken over new premises but not contacted the suppliers, you will be clocking up a massive account.

Shop Around

• Don’t accept a new contract with your incumbent supplier until you’ve compared prices. If you don’t have time to call your existing supplier or potential new suppliers try a business price comparison service who can tell you immediately if your rates are competitive and if not, do the legwork of finding out which is the best deal for your business (based on postcode, credit score and consumption).

Check Renewal Dates

• Once on your on a contract, make a note of your renewal dates and what notice you need to give as many suppliers make it difficult to switch towards the end of a contract. Each supplier has different rules with renewal ‘windows’ closing long before the end date. Miss your window and you’ll automatically be ‘rolled over’ for a year on uncompetitive rates.

Serve Notice Regardless

• Not everyone has the time or patience to keep a track of when their contact is up for review. The best way to get around this is to send a notice letter irrespective of how long your contact has to run. You cannot be cut-off for doing this and given that your current supplier knows your switching intentions, they will be more inclined to offer you competitive rates at your renewal.

Sign-up For Help

• For those in any doubt about your existing contract(s) or just looking for an easy solution, Make It Cheaper offers a free contract checking service that deals with suppliers on your behalf and contacts you with the best rates available when it’s time to switch.

For more information please use our contact form and speak to Make It Cheaper today.

As everyone knows, property has been in the doldrums for the last couple of years. And while there has been an outcry about the problems that people in negative equity, mortgage arrears or simply unable to buy their first home face, estate agents have, for some reason, not received too much sympathy.

“I know as an industry we have a shocking reputation,” says Brian Kingsbury, owner of KBS Estates, which has two branches in South London. “And I know there have been sharp practices in the past, but I think the profession is much better now.

We get a lot of grief, but that’s often because we’re the first contact point for buyers and sellers so when things go wrong they need someone to lash out at. It doesn’t actually mean that the problems have anything to do with us.”

KBS Estates has been around since the early 1980s, but Brian took over ownership about a decade ago.

“At the time there was only one branch and the owner was semi-retired so I was managing everything. He then said he wanted to sell up and move to Spain and offered me the chance to buy it.”

The business was valued at just under £100,000, but the generous owner allowed him to make the payment in two installments – half upfront, with the balance to be paid within two years. But like most people, Brian didn’t have £50,000 is ready cash.

“I went to the bank to ask for a small business loan to make the purchase. It was the bank for the business anyway, so it could see that the company was profitable and I would be able to repay the loan through the income generated, but they weren’t keen on lending the full amount without me putting up any of my own cash.

“So I decided to remortgage my house for the £50,000. At the time property prices were rising fast and I’d also had a couple of good years which meant I used my bonuses to pay down the debt, so it ended up being a pretty straightforward transaction. It only took a couple of weeks to get the money – I almost got it too quickly, the legal work to buy the business took much longer!”

Remortgaging a property to pay for a business is a risky move – after all, if everything goes pear-shaped, you can lose your home. But Brian made sure he kept the debt separate from his household accounts. The added debt was always considered a business debt, so that when he could afford to he would overpay to reduce the overall burden. “Although it was a single mortgage, I counted it as two loans – one for my house and one for my business,” explains Brian.

“So when the business had surplus money, I would use it to pay off the business loan. It sounds complicated, and it probably didn’t do many favours in terms of my tax bill, but it was the easiest way I could think of to run it.”

Brian also wanted to ensure he had the balance on hand when it came to make the second payment, so he would put away £2,000 per month from the business to save up. “In those days, business was good so it wasn’t a problem making those savings”.

After two years, and just before he was due to pay the balance of the sale price, Brian went for a review at his bank. “By this point, the business was doing very well – the sales side was growing and we had started doing lettings, which was a big success. From two people when I took over, I now had four people working for me.”

Now Brian had proved himself, and had equity already invested in the business, the attitude of his bank, NatWest, was markedly different. “It offered to lend me the other £50,000 to make the second payment. Of course, I didn’t need it, but it did get me thinking.”

Brian paid off the outstanding balance with his savings, but took the loan from the bank to expand the business. He opened another branch two miles away and hired four new people to run it.

“This was the first time I really had to get involved in staffing – until then I’d inherited staff when I bought the business, one of them had left after I took over but I knew the person I hired to replace her before I offered her the job so it wasn’t a big risk.

“With the new office, I moved one person over to be manager, but the three others were completely new hires. They all worked out, which I think was more luck than judgement, but there was certainly some time spent getting everyone used to each other and their different ways of doing things.” So up until 2007 the market was booming and Brian’s business was thriving.

Then came the crash. “I know there were signs before then, but the first time we really started to notice a difference was just after Northern Rock collapsed. Suddenly, people who could have got a mortgage without a problem were being rejected, or even having their mortgage offers withdrawn.

“Buy-to-let mortgages also disappeared, and that had a huge impact as a lot of our clients were landlords and they just pulled out of the market.”

Although Brian’s ‘patch’ didn’t see the huge falls in property values that were found elsewhere in the country, he was certainly affected.

“It wasn’t so much that people didn’t want to buy, it was more that homeowners were scared of selling, so we couldn’t get any new properties on the books. We went from selling at least 30 properties a month to an average of five – in one month we didn’t sell any.”

The only thing that kept Brian’s company afloat was the lettings business. “We’d gradually built it up until we had a lot of properties on the books and some very loyal portfolio landlords who stayed with us. Our area is full of young professionals and because the mortgage market had dried up, we had more tenants coming through the doors.”

But it was still a tough time, and economies had to be made. “At our biggest, I had eight people working for me, but now it’s down to four. Two of them left of their own accord – their income fell significantly because there weren’t any commissions to be made – but I had to let two others go. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

I worried about it for weeks before I did it, and the meetings where I told them were horrible. But it had to be done, the business wouldn’t have survived otherwise. I thought long and hard about closing one of the offices, but it never quite reached the tipping point where I had to do that.

Now the market is – hopefully – starting to recover we’re definitely going to keep it. A lot of other agencies in the area have shut their doors so we’re in a good position to rebuild the business.”

Hopefully the worst is now over for the British property market, and Brian’s business is back on track. But he’s learned some tough lessons. “It’s all about cost control. If you’re not earning it, you can’t spend it.

“So we’ve made sure we know exactly what is coming in and what is going out. I think in the past we became a bit blase about our finances – business was good and the money was coming in, so I didn’t worry about the odd extra cost. Now I’m much more disciplined, I keep a much closer eye on the books and try and make sure I get the best price for absolutely everything.”

Your first start should be your local Business Link. This is a Government agency, organised regionally, that provides information and support for all small businesses – whether they are start-ups, established companies or firms looking to expand. It’s particularly strong on the administrative side of running a SME, with guidance on taxation, employment, finance and regulations. But it also has plenty of useful tips on marketing, international trade and grants, and runs local events that provide advice and networking opportunities.

The Federation of Small Businesses is a member organisation that campaigns on behalf of SMEs. It promotes the interests of small businesses in Parliament and in the media, but it also gives its members a range of benefits. Members are entitled to legal information, and can download templates of legal documents.

Members also get tax advice and there are a number of special deals you can access when it comes to banking, loans and credit cards. “Our purpose is supporting small businesses, and in addition to our lobbying work, we’re always looking for ways to give our members more help,” says a spokesman for the FSB.

It’s also worth visiting the websites of the major banks; they all offer accounts and services to small businesses, and many of them have plenty of advice to companies, which is available whether you are a customer or not. Lloyds and HSBC have two of the better websites, but most will have something of interest. Coverzones has plenty of useful and easy to understand information on specific insurance policies that small businesses need to consider, including laibility and indemnity cover.

As part of the Government’s long-term strategy to get more of its services online, there is now a wealth of useful sources of information for small businesses, many of them available through Direct.gov. The site is generally set up for individuals, so if you’re a sole trader then you can receive guidance on your rights and responsibilities, as well as information on tax and benefits. For larger companies, the taxman will be able to explain all about VAT, corporation tax, employers’ tax and the like. It’s particularly useful for companies undertaking new ventures, such as employing someone for the first time or selling products and services overseas – each of these come with potential liabilities so it’s a good place to start if you’re considering such a move.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills concentrates mainly on the regulatory side of running a small business. The site is currently being updated, so at the moment can be a little difficult to navigate, but if you can find it there’s plenty of help available.

But there are signs that the market is starting to improve. “I see 2010 as being the time when canny investors start to look again at the property market,” says Ray Boulger, mortgage technical manager at broker John Charcol. “They are seeing that property probably won’t get any cheaper and there is still demand for good quality accommodation in the right location from tenants.

And while property prices have fallen, rents have not seen a similar dip. According to research from Paragon Mortgages, a specialist buy-to-let lender, most landlords have been able to maintain their charges over the last couple of years, with a significant minority saying they have even been able to raise them.

But while properties are now cheaper, mortgages are not so easy to come by. “Many specialist lenders [which often provided investment mortgages] have closed their doors as a result of the credit crunch,” says David Whittaker, managing director of broker Mortgages for Business. “Those that are still lending have much stricter criteria.”

The biggest of these are the size of the deposit and what’s known as the rental income ratio. Buy-to-let mortgages are not the same as those for owner-occupiers; lenders use different rules when assessing an application. For a start, you’ll need a deposit of at least 15 per cent, and to access the best deals, you’ll want to have 25 per cent of the property value. The rental income ratio is how much of the rent will cover the mortgage. In the past, you may behave got away with the monthly mortgage payment being the same as the rent – know as 100 per cent. Nowadays, lenders insist on at least 125 per cent, which means that if your mortgage is £1,000 per month, the property must be able to attract a rent of £1,250 per month.

Once you’ve decided on property as an investment, there are various rules and regulations that you need to abide by. The absolute key law relates to gas. If you have any gas appliances in the property, they must be safety checked once a year and a copy of the safety certificate given to any tenants. Aside from the hideous possibility of being responsible for any harm coming to tenants as a result of a gas accident, failure to get a safety certificate could cost you a substantial fine or even a prison sentence.

You now also need to get an Energy Performance Certificate. They’re the same as those required within Home Information Packs for property sellers, and are there to show how energy-efficient the property is – fixtures and fittings like double glazing, insulated walls and modern boilers will all give your property a better score.

Insuring your property is also a different matter for landlords. Most conventional home insurance products don’t cover you if you have tenants, so you need to take out specialist landlord insurance to make sure you have proper protection.