Nationwide Energy Consultants were recommended to Northallerton WMC by CIU Yorkshire Branch Secretary, Frank Healey, due to electricity usage which continued at around £1,000 per month when closed in Covid lockdown. Dean O’Hara, Nationwide’s MD visited in February 2021 to identify where the electricity was being used. Club President Michael Herron and Secretary Jeff Lewis showed Dean that only essential equipment were running - CCTV, fire detection/alarm and intruder alarm etc.

When inspecting the electricity meter Dean found that rather than having a separate supply for the Vodafone mobile telephone mast it was in fact a sub-meter to the main supply the club was paying for. The mast was installed back in 2009 and the club had been paying for it, unaware they should have been invoicing Vodafone. No readings had been taken for the sub-meter which had been “round the clock” an unknown number of times. Nationwide used a series of daily readings to calculate the phone masts consumption and taking the different contractual rates over the 12 years worked out that the Club had paid over £86,000 rather than Vodafone. Nationwide liaised with Vodafone on the clubs behalf setting up a vendor agreement and submitting the invoices.

The club received the £86,000 from Vodafone on 2nd July which coming in a lump sum has given the club financial security for the future and will allow them to invest in refurbishing the club. Club President Michael Herron said “Nationwide Energy have helped us in ways you couldn’t imagine, not only would we never have found out about the Vodafone mast meter we wouldn’t have known how to calculate how much we were due or who to contact at Vodafone to resolve the matter. Nationwide Energy took control of the issue and worked everything from start to finish until we received our money”.

Dean O’Hara, MD, commented “ We are delighted at the outcome for Northallerton WMC. Nationwide Energy is committed to support our customers and their businesses, using our expertise to identify the issues and solutions, working hard on the customers behalf to get the best outcome.

If any other hospitality businesses are experiencing unusually high bills, Nationwide can be contacted on 02476 328995 (option 3) or contact us through the Billing & Metering section on our website.