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Ceased trading · September 2020

Great North Energy archive

Great North Energy ceased trading on 30 September 2020. Its customers were transferred to British Gas under Ofgem's Supplier of Last Resort scheme. This page is kept as a historical record.

Founded 2017 Less than 10,000 customers at closure Doncaster

Ceased trading · 30 September 2020

Great North Energy no longer supplies UK households

Acquisition — Great North Energy's supply partner Robin Hood Energy was wound up; the combined customer base was sold to British Gas. Customers were transferred to British Gas under Ofgem's Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) scheme. This page is kept as a historical record. Information presented below was accurate at the time of original publication.

Founded

2017

Years on the UK market

Customers

Less than 10,000 customers at closure

Households served

About

Who is Great North Energy?

Registered as Great North Energy (Doncaster Council), Great North Energy uses this legal name for Ofgem licence filings, contracts and any formal communications. The trading name customers see on bills is the shorter, more recognisable form.

The company is headquartered in Doncaster, where it runs its senior management, customer operations and regulatory liaison with Ofgem.

Great North Energy was founded in 2017. The supplier operated under a domestic-supply licence until its closure, with a track record of customer service and billing publicly documented for the years it traded.

Great North Energy is part of the Doncaster Council (white-label via Robin Hood Energy) group, which provides shared governance, financial backing and a broader pool of expertise in trading, hedging and regulatory work.

The company is regulated by Ofgem, the UK's energy regulator, and its complaint handling falls under the Energy Ombudsman alternative dispute resolution scheme.

Timeline

Great North Energy — key dates

A short timeline of the Great North Energy brand — founding, milestones, regulatory events and the closure that brought it to an end.

  1. 2017

    Great North Energy is founded by Doncaster Council as a not-for-profit white-label supplier, supplied by Robin Hood Energy.

  2. 2020

    Robin Hood Energy collapses with ~£38m losses. Great North Energy customers are sold to British Gas in September 2020 alongside other Robin Hood white-label brands.

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Common questions

Great North Energy — frequently asked questions

Acquisition — Great North Energy's supply partner Robin Hood Energy was wound up; the combined customer base was sold to British Gas.

Existing customers were transferred to British Gas under Ofgem's Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) scheme — supply was never interrupted.

Your supply has not been interrupted: under the SoLR scheme, your supply is automatically handed to the successor supplier. Log in to the successor's online portal as soon as possible to set up your account, confirm your bank details and download any final Great North Energy statements while the legacy website is still online.

You are not required to pay any exit fee to leave the deemed tariff. Once your account is set up, compare current deals through Selectra to find a cheaper plan that fits your usage.

Yes. Customer credit balances on accounts at the date of cessation are protected under Ofgem's SoLR scheme. The successor supplier (British Gas) is required to honour your credit balance. Confirm the balance in writing within the first 30 days to avoid disputes later.

Yes — outstanding debts owed to Great North Energy transfer to the administrator of the company's estate, not the SoLR. You may receive a written demand for the outstanding amount from the administrators. Verify any demand against your final Great North Energy statement before paying.

You can complain about the conduct of Great North Energy (mis-selling, billing errors, customer service) to the Energy Ombudsman, even after the supplier has ceased trading. For complaints about the SoLR transfer itself (delays, incorrect tariff), the route is the same — Ombudsman first, then Ofgem.

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