Utilitywise rebrands corporate division as EIC

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Third party intermediary Utilitywise has split out its corporate division, rebranding it as Energy Intelligence Centre – or EIC.

The choice of name is interesting. Utilitywise bought industrial and commercial third party intermediary Energy Information Centre, also known as EIC, for £15.5m in 2013.

The move comes as the company attempts to repair its balance sheet following a change to the way it recognises revenue and the value of contracts after overestimating client consumption, which artificially pushed up their value. As a result, the company delayed publishing full year results for 2017 and ultimately a posted a heavy loss.

The company believes it can deliver growth by expanding into overseas markets and bundling services such as insurance as well as energy to clients.

Posting half year results in April, the company said its corporate division – the business being rebranded to EIC – was making progress, with some 1,200 buildings connected to its ‘internet of things’ platform, based on technology acquired via its t-mac acquisition in 2015 and a deal struck with Dell the following year.

However, it warned performance would be softer in the second half of 2018, particularly for the enterprise – or smaller business division – which will remain under the Utilitywise brand.

Shares in Utilitywise have dropped sharply in recent weeks, today trading at 6p, down from 20p four weeks ago and 48p at the start of 2018.

Founder Geoff Thompson sold his remaining 6 per cent shareholding last week at around 10p.

Utilitywise has been approached for comment.

Update: Utilitywise has provided a statement on the move, pasted below.

The Utilitywise Corporate Division will once again become EIC – this time as Energy Intelligence Centre. EIC will operate as a separate entity, however Utilitywise will remain as the parent company.

The repositioning of the brand will allow the consultancy to focus on providing bespoke energy services to its clients. The move from ‘Information’ to ‘Intelligence’ within the EIC name signifies that solutions have diversified over the years and are now integrated with technology.

IoT investment is expected to grow considerably, and IT and building/FM managers will understand this topic area well – but it is not a major priority for our small business customers.

Strategic partnerships with Vodafone and Dell remain and EIC will continue to reinforce the benefits of  the IoT-enabled Building Energy Management solution for large businesses developed in partnership with the technology giants.

Clients remain a priority for the group and, the brand change is a fantastic opportunity for the creation of a technology-led consultancy fit for the large businesses of tomorrow.

Related stories:

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Utilitywise share trading suspended

Utilitywise warns of ‘material impact’ of overstating client energy consumption

Utilitywise appoints former Sage boss

Yü Group revisits accounts, posts loss

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