Ovo Energy set to bid for Shell’s 1.4 million domestic customers

Ovo Energy is reportedly planning to take over the UK arm of Shell’s domestic energy supplier weeks after the oil giant said it was reviewing the future of the business.

Sky News reported that Ovo is eyeing Shell Energy UK, which supplies around 1.4 million homes across Great Britain with gas and electricity.

It also has a significant broadband arm, which supplies around half a million customers.

The business employs around 2,000 people in the UK.

Ovo – which itself has around four million customers – could table a bid for Shell Energy as soon as Wednesday, Sky reported.

The broadcaster added that Ovo would want to offload the broadband side of Shell Energy to another company.

Ovo and Shell Energy declined to comment.

In January, Shell said that it was looking at options for the future of the company’s domestic energy supply business.

Shell itself bought the business in 2018 when it was already a decade old, changing its name from First Utility.

But the January “strategic review” planned to look into whether the domestic supply business in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany would be better off outside Shell.

Shell said at the time: “No decisions have yet been taken on the way forward and our priority remains to ensure our customers in those countries continue to receive a reliable and affordable energy supply, and to provide support for customers who are struggling with the cost of energy and wider cost-of-living pressures.”

It added: “We intend to provide an update on the outcome of the review, which is likely to take a number of months, in due course.”