/ Guides
Business cost guides — written to be used, not skimmed.
Every guide below covers one thing UK businesses lose money on: property rates, energy billing and access to funding. No sign-up, no paywall. Where a guide points at a supplier or the Valuation Office, we link the official source so you can check it yourself.
Business rates
How the Valuation Office (VO) values your property, the reliefs you can claim, and how to challenge a rateable value that is too high.
How to check your rateable value with the VO
Find your property in the rating list, read the valuation detail and spot the errors that inflate your bill.
Read the guideSmall business rates relief: who qualifies
Thresholds, tapering, multiple properties and how to claim relief you may already be owed.
Read the guideCheck & Challenge explained, step by step
The three stages, what evidence wins, the deadlines that catch businesses out.
Read the guide
Business energy
What is actually on a commercial electricity and gas bill, which lines are commonly wrong, and when to act on a renewal.
How to spot overcharges on a business energy bill
VAT, Climate Change Levy, unit rates, estimated reads and capacity charges — line by line.
Read the guideBusiness standing charges explained
What the daily charge covers, why it varies so much, and when it can be challenged.
Read the guideWhen to renew a business energy contract
Renewal windows, deemed and out-of-contract rates, and the timeline that gets the best price.
Read the guide
Corporate funding
How large facilities are structured, what lenders ask for, and which product fits which need.
Asset finance for UK companies
Hire purchase, leasing and refinancing existing assets to release cash.
Read the guideInvoice finance: factoring vs discounting
Turning your sales ledger into working capital, and what it costs.
Read the guideDevelopment and project finance
How drawdowns, loan-to-cost and exit strategies work on a build.
Read the guide
Everything managed for you — at no cost to your business
Membership of Business-Utility.com is free of charge for all customers. We manage your supplier accounts, audit every bill, sign and file the paperwork, and recover what you have been overcharged. You stay in control and can withdraw access at any time.
Free membership for every customer
No subscription, set-up fee or minimum term. Suppliers pay us, you never do.
We manage your supplier accounts
Confirm your supplier names and online logins once — encrypted, masked and cancellable in one click — and we work your accounts directly.
Overcharges eradicated at source
Every bill line audited: wrong unit rates, out-of-contract rates, estimated reads, duplicate standing charges, VAT and CCL — recovered up to six years back.
Sign once, digitally
Type your name to sign your Letter of Authority. Every signature carries a DocuSign-style certificate of authenticity with time, IP and device.
Signed PDFs retained and shared
Your signed LOA is stored as a PDF, emailed to you and issued to every supplier with your account numbers and business name on the subject line.
Readings and usage tracked
Submit readings from your phone or let us post them into your supplier account, so you are billed on actuals and never estimates.
Renewals never missed
We watch contract end dates and negotiate whole-of-market before any out-of-contract rollover can bite.
Disputes handled with evidence
Raise a challenge with supporting documents attached; we build and send the evidence pack to the supplier and chase it to resolution.