As such, Energy becomes the latest provider to seek financing amid market turmoil | Business news

The company, which supplies electricity to more than 300,000 British households, is seeking tens of millions of pounds in extra funding amid continued industry turmoil.

As such, Energy has appointed advisers from Interpath to raise more than £50m in funding over the next year.

The search for new capital comes a year after Irish energy group ESB took a controlling stake in the business.

So Energy, founded in 2015 by Simon Oscroft and Charlie Davies, former energy traders at Australian bank Macquarie, is one of a large number of mid-sized companies hit by market turmoil over the past 18 months.

Dozens of UK suppliers have collapsed, many of whom failed to insure their wholesale gas purchases against huge price rises.

Mr Oscroft said: “Despite prolonged and unprecedented market volatility, regulatory uncertainty and political instability, we have weathered the storm well and are the last real challenger left in the market.

“Over the past few weeks we have seen some major changes in energy policy – cuts and the move to an energy price guarantee, uncertainty about price capping and an energy market financing scheme that appears to be only available to some energy players.

“We want to make sure we have adequate funding to manage this uncertainty and grow into the future, so we have begun the process of exploring options for additional investment for the next two years.”

So Energy is looking for fresh funding as the government tries to complete the sale of Bulb, the biggest energy supplier that went bankrupt during the crisis.

Ministers are close to selling Bulb to Octopus Energy, although at the eleventh hour rival Ovo also expressed an interest in the deal.

It is understood Mr Oscroft is keen to complete the new funding for So Energy in the coming months.

“We are optimistic about the year ahead. We see that the wholesale market is calming down, and we hope that the new prime minister can bring much-needed political and economic stability,” he said.

“We also believe that the reforms that Ofgem is currently consulting on will provide greater certainty from next year.”