MyBestDeal targets energy sector growth

AN INTERNET procurement business co-founded by food and leisure entrepreneur Martin Bell has the energy market in its sights as it embarks on an ambitious expansion push.

MyBestDeal was only set up at the start of 2011 but already boasts a client base of about 250 buyers and several hundred suppliers.

The Stirlingshire-based firm uses customised software to match buyers with suppliers, which bid against each other for the contract on offer. It claims to be signing up suppliers rapidly because any squeeze on their margins is offset by “strong new business streams”.

The reverse auction process has been employed in several business sectors including car leasing, printing, catering and the supply of office furniture and computers.

Backed by Castle View International, the £90-million-turnover leisure conglomerate run by Bell, MyBestDeal is confident that both its buyer and supplier bases will number in the thousands by the end of this year.

Much of that growth will come from entering the business energy market, where the firm is promising to “dramatically slash bills across all sectors”.

Co-founder and director David Paterson described energy costs as a “constant source of concern for companies” and insisted a web-based procurement model can compete with the long-term business model of established energy brokers.

“Energy security worries are being exacerbated by supply concerns and Iranian threats. Recent price easing is likely to be sharply reversed,” Paterson said.

“Business needs all the help it can get. But, for too long, brokerage fees have been unnecessarily high.”

The fledgling firm said that, by using Castle View’s “firepower”, it has already established relationships with 18 energy suppliers.