Ofgem fined Farringdon Energy £525k and forced its director out over overcharging

Farringdon Energy, an Essex-based non-domestic supplier trading as Champion Energy, had since 2021 run without billing systems capable of properly managing customer accounts or documenting energy use. That produced repeated instances of the company routinely retaining customers' advance payments as 'Early Termination Fees' despite never supplying them any energy, and failing to issue bills based on actual meter readings — overcharging 159 customers, many of them small independent businesses such as takeaways and convenience stores, a total of £347,717.25.

Ofgem's investigation concluded the breaches stemmed from serious and sustained mismanagement at a time when day-to-day oversight sat entirely with one director. Farringdon agreed to pay £525,000 to Ofgem's Voluntary Redress Fund, undergo enhanced regulatory monitoring with independent audits, and implement comprehensive governance reforms. The director agreed to resign from the board and never act as a senior manager in the business again — Ofgem said removing the director responsible was the only course of action.

It was the supplier's second penalty in nine months: in June 2025 Ofgem had fined Farringdon £214,580, with £9,096 in compensation and £177,271 refunded, for receiving payments it was not entitled to for energy it was not supplying.

£525,000 to Ofgem's Voluntary Redress Fund, refunds plus £50 per customer, and the director's resignation with a senior-manager ban

The company billed without actual meter readings, so 159 small-business customers were overcharged £347,717.25.

Advance payments were routinely retained as 'Early Termination Fees' for energy that was never supplied.

Day-to-day oversight sat entirely with one director, with no adequate billing systems or governance behind him.

The June 2025 penalty for similar conduct had not fixed the underlying management failures.

One person running billing, oversight and governance with no systems behind them turns small shortcuts into a licence-level enforcement case.

Affected customers were refunded with additional compensation, and Farringdon remains under enhanced regulatory monitoring with independent audits and mandated reforms. The director's resignation and senior-manager ban was, per Ofgem, the only adequate response to mismanagement of this kind.