Utilities
Financial Service Providers
Healthcare Providers
These range from public services under the NHS to private healthcare providers:
- NHS (National Health Service): The public healthcare system offers free-at-the-point-of-use services, including general practitioner (GP) visits, hospital care, surgeries, and emergency services.
- Private Healthcare Providers: Companies like Bupa, AXA PPP, and Spire Healthcare offer private medical insurance and treatment options. These providers often offer quicker access to medical services.
Transport & Delivery Services
Providers in this sector include:
- Public Transport: Transport for London (TfL) for London-based services, and national train providers like Avanti West Coast, Great Western Railway, and National Express for buses.
- Delivery Services: Major companies include Royal Mail, ParcelForce, Hermes (Evri), DPD, and Yodel.
Education Providers
- Schools & Universities: The UK has a mix of public and private schools, with universities like Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London, and London School of Economics offering higher education.
- Online Learning Platforms: Providers like FutureLearn, Coursera, and Udemy offer online courses and learning resources.
Construction & Property Services
- Estate Agents: Companies such as Rightmove, Zoopla, Foxtons, and Savills provide property listings for sale and rent.
- Construction & Renovation: Providers like Balfour Beatty, Kier Group, and Willmott Dixon offer construction, engineering, and infrastructure services.
Hospitality & Leisure Providers
- Hotels and Accommodation: Popular hotel chains include Premier Inn, Travelodge, and Hilton, offering accommodation services.
- Leisure & Recreation: Companies like PureGym, David Lloyd, and The National Trust provide gym memberships and recreational activities.
Consumer Rights and Switching Service Providers:
In the UK, the government and regulators like Ofgem (for energy) and Ofcom (for telecoms) oversee the quality of services and protect consumers. Many sectors also have options for customers to switch service providers easily, whether for broadband, energy, or insurance, often through comparison websites.
Check if you need a TV licence
Waste and Recycling
Most waste collection is done by local councils, but some private providers also offer additional services.
- Veolia – A major waste management company, offering waste and recycling collection for various local authorities.
- SUEZ Recycling & Recovery – Offers waste collection, recycling, and disposal services to both domestic and commercial clients.
- Biffa – Specialises in waste management and recycling services for both homes and businesses.
What uses the most electricity in a house ?
- Cooling and heating: 47% of energy use.
- Water heater: 14% of energy use.
- Washer and dryer: 13% of energy use.
- Lighting: 12% of energy use.
- Refrigerator: 4% of energy use.
- Electric oven: 3-4% of energy use.
- TV, DVD 3% of energy use.
- Dishwasher: 2% of energy use.
Ways to save electricity and Gas
With a lot of the family budgets being spent on energy bills, it makes sense to look for ways to reduce the amount of gas and electricity you use, and with a little extra effort this can be achieved.
But despite owning more appliances nowadays, we still use roughly the same amount of energy as we did two decades ago, which means that our appliances and gadgets have become more energy efficient over time.
There are a few changes you can make around the home that could help cut down your average electricity usage.
Ways to save on electricity
- Turn off unnecessary lights. How many times have you left lights on in a room without anyone being in the room ?
- Don’t switch lights on in a room if you don’t need to, try and rely on natural daylight as much as possible.
- Use task lighting, which provides increased light for specific tasks in a room that may already have some ambient light. Task lighting is especially useful for seeing small objects or objects of low contrast. Plug-in table and floor lamps are also commonly used to provide task lighting for reading.
- Energy-saving light bulbs can help you to cut your energy bills easily.
- Hang dry your laundry where possible
- Switch off at the wall. This is because, when you leave devices like TVs or stereos on standby, they still use power. Turning them off at the wall stops this happening.
- Checking the temperature – the ideal temperature for your fridge is between 3˚and 5˚C, while for your freezer it’s minus 18˚C. Making sure they’re at the right temperature will make sure they use no more energy than they need to.
- Don’t put hot or warm food in the fridge. It’s better to let hot food cool before putting it in the fridge, otherwise it takes extra energy for the fridge to cool it down.
- Be more efficient when cooking. If it takes less time to cook something then it also uses less energy too. Heating water in a kettle rather than on the hob helps speed up the process. Also keep the oven door closed as much as possible so that less heat escapes and food cooks faster.
- Try and wash clothes on a lower temperature if you can. Washing clothes at 30C will use less energy than it does if you wash on higher temperatures. Nowadays, modern detergents are able to get good results at lower temperatures.
- Don’t overfill the kettle. Only fill the kettle with the amount of water needed as this stops any energy being wasted.
- Microwaves are good for saving energy. A microwave can tackle some tasks just as well as the oven or the hob, and your microwave uses far less energy to do it. For instance, if you’re reheating something, there’s no need to use the stove. It’s much more efficient to use the microwave.
- Try and investing in smart home technology. Smart home technology can help save energy. By getting a smart thermostat, for example, you can make sure you never heat an empty home – and you can sync your heating up to the weather.
- Time-based tariffs are another handy way to cut down your electricity bills. They have off-peak periods, where it is cheaper to use electricity, so you can time when you use appliances, to save money.
Ways to save on gas
- If you only need to heat one room in your home, it may be cheaper to use a portable electric heater and keep the thermostat turned down. For those who live alone or work from home, investing in an electric heater could save on heating bills over time as you’re not heating your whole home unnecessarily with central heating.
- Your heating is responsible for more than half of your energy bill each year. So replacing an old, inefficient gas boiler with a modern energy-efficient one will make a big difference to your bill.
- Draught proof as much as possible. Use draught-proofing strips around window frames and door frames.
- Though you might only use your heating in winter, you use energy year-round to heat your water. So heating and using it wisely will help to keep gas costs down.
- Spend less time in the shower.
- Insulate your hot water tank and pipes so that water can stay warmer for longer.
- Look at switching to save
Other tips to keep your energy bills and payments in check
- Choose paperless bills and manage your account online (some companies charge extra for paper bills)
- Pay by direct debit. This is usually cheaper than paying when you receive a bill
- Send regular meter readings to keep your bill accurate. If you have a smart meter, it will do this automatically
- Question any direct debit increases that seem too high. Your energy company should be able to explain the changes. Your usage and payments should balance out over a year.
- Look at switching to save
Water
Find your local water supplier
You can check who provides your water and sewerage services by entering your postcode here.
Ways to save water
- Turn the water off when shaving, washing hands, brushing teeth
- Fix leaky faucets
- A dripping tap can waste more than 5,300 litres of water a year, so make sure your taps are properly turned off and change washers promptly when taps start to drip.
- Take shorter showers
