Octopus Business Referral: £75 Credit Explained

Quick answer

Official guidance currently states £75 for the eligible business and £75 for the referring customer. That is a different scheme from the domestic offer of £50 each, with a different sign-up journey, a different set of eligibility rules and a completely different contract underneath it. Anyone weighing up whether to move a business's gas or electricity supply on the strength of a referral credit should understand that difference before they request a quote, because the referral reward is the smallest number in the decision.

We do not publish a business referral link

This site's referral identifier is a domestic one, tied to a home energy account. We will not send a business user through a home energy journey and imply it will earn a business reward — doing so risks the switch being rejected, or a business ending up on the wrong kind of contract entirely. Start from Octopus Energy for Business directly, and ask them to confirm the current referral route and terms before you sign a contract. See how we make money for the full picture of how this site is funded and why that boundary matters to us.

Who counts as a business customer

Energy suppliers classify a connection as domestic or non-domestic (business) based on how the premises is used and how the meter is registered, not simply on who happens to live or work there. A flat with a single domestic meter supplying a household, including one where someone works from a laptop at the kitchen table, is domestic. A registered office, shop, workshop, warehouse, holiday let with its own meter, or any premises with a dedicated non-domestic meter point, is business supply — even if the "business" is a single self-employed person.

Within business supply, Ofgem draws a further distinction for smaller organisations: the microbusiness category. A microbusiness is broadly one that uses no more than 100,000 kWh of electricity or 293,000 kWh of gas a year, and either has fewer than 10 employees (or full-time equivalents) with turnover or a balance sheet total under £2 million, or has fewer than 50 employees while staying under the consumption threshold. Microbusinesses get extra protections that larger commercial users do not, covering things such as being told clearly when a fixed-term contract is ending, limits on automatic rollover onto poor rates, and access to the Energy Ombudsman for unresolved disputes. None of those protections are connected to the referral scheme — they exist under Ofgem's licence conditions regardless of how the switch was initiated.

Why business supply is a separate scheme

Domestic and business energy are regulated, priced and sold in fundamentally different ways, which is why Octopus (and every other supplier) runs them as separate operations with separate referral programmes. Domestic supply sits inside the Ofgem price cap and comes with statutory consumer protections built for households. Business supply does not have a price cap at all: prices are set by negotiation or by published business tariffs that can move with wholesale markets, contract length and the credit risk the supplier assigns to your company. A referral scheme designed around a household joining on a variable or capped tariff simply cannot be bolted onto a market where every contract is individually priced and fixed for a set term.

Domestic versus business energy: the real differences

What changes when a connection is business rather than domestic

Price cap: Domestic supply is protected by the Ofgem price cap on standard variable tariffs. Business supply has no price cap at any size of contract.
Cooling-off period: Domestic switches typically include a statutory cooling-off period. Many business contracts, especially those agreed by phone, in writing or via a broker, carry little or no cooling-off right.
Contract length: Domestic tariffs are usually monthly rolling or fixed for 12–24 months with an exit fee. Business contracts are commonly fixed for 1–5 years, agreed well in advance of the start date.
Dual fuel: Domestic customers can usually combine gas and electricity under one account and one referral. Business gas and electricity are typically billed, contracted and sometimes supplied separately.
VAT and CCL: Domestic energy is charged at 5% VAT. Business energy is charged at 20% VAT (unless a reduced-rate exemption applies) and usually includes the Climate Change Levy on top.
Credit checks: Domestic sign-up rarely involves a formal credit check beyond basic verification. Business sign-up commonly includes a credit check on the company, and may require a deposit or guarantor if credit is poor.
Switching windows: Domestic customers can usually switch supplier at short notice. Business customers must usually give termination notice within a specific window before their contract end date, often 30–90 days, or the contract auto-renews.
Termination notice: Domestic exit fees, where they exist, are modest and disclosed upfront. Business contracts can lock you in for the full term with limited early-exit options, and missing the notice window can mean another full term at the existing (or a renewal) rate.
Protections: Domestic customers have broad Ofgem consumer protections. Business customers only get the fuller set of protections if they qualify as a microbusiness; larger commercial users have far fewer statutory safeguards and rely on contract terms.

How a business referral is normally made

Where Octopus Energy for Business runs a referral programme, the mechanism is broadly similar in shape to the domestic one — an existing customer shares a link or code, a new business customer starts a quote through it, and both sides receive a reward once the business qualifies and goes live on supply. In practice the process differs in every important detail: the new customer usually has to provide a company name, MPAN or MPRN, and consumption history before a price can even be quoted, the quote itself is bespoke rather than published, and the contract is signed for a fixed term rather than started on a rolling tariff.

Because our referral identifier is registered against a domestic account, we deliberately do not attempt to route business enquiries through it, and we do not publish a business referral link on this site. If you want to explore a business referral, the reliable path is to contact Octopus Energy for Business directly (or ask a business contact who is already a customer to refer you through their own business-registered channel) and get the current terms confirmed in writing before you request a quote.

What to prepare before requesting a business quote

Your MPAN (electricity) and/or MPRN (gas) meter identification numbers, found on a recent bill
Whether your electricity meter is half-hourly (HH) or non-half-hourly (NHH) — larger and some smaller sites are moved to HH metering, which changes how you're billed
Your annual consumption in kWh for both gas and electricity, ideally from 12 months of bills
Your current contract's end date and the exact termination notice window required to leave without penalty
Company details for the credit check: registered company name and number, trading address and, for newer or smaller companies, possibly a director's guarantee
Any capacity or KVA (kilovolt-ampere) agreement on your electricity supply, relevant to larger or higher-demand premises

How to evaluate a business quote properly

A business energy quote is not comparable to a domestic tariff table, and it will not tell you everything up front unless you ask. Work through each of the following before accepting anything, referral reward included:

Unit rate (p/kWh): compare like-for-like day/night or single rates across quotes, and check whether the rate is fixed for the full term or subject to review clauses.
Standing charge: a daily fixed cost that applies regardless of usage — material for low-usage premises, less so for high-usage ones.
Contract term: a longer fixed term gives price certainty but locks you into today's market conditions; a shorter term gives flexibility but more renewal risk.
Capacity or KVA charges: where relevant, charges for the maximum electrical capacity reserved for your site, separate from the energy you actually use.
Broker commission: ask directly whether commission is baked into the unit rate you've been quoted, and if so, how much — a small difference per kWh compounds significantly over a multi-year, high-volume contract.
Termination and renewal terms: the exact notice window, what happens if you miss it, and whether the contract auto-renews onto a new fixed term or a deemed rate.

The reward should never drive a business contract

On a typical small-business supply, £75 is a rounding error next to the difference between a good and a bad unit rate over a multi-year contract. A unit-rate gap of even half a penny per kWh on a moderate-use premises can cost more than the referral reward within the first few months, and it will keep costing that much for the rest of the term. Compare the pricing, term and exit terms first, and treat any referral credit as a minor bonus on top of a decision you'd have made anyway.

The risk of letting a £-value referral drive a multi-year contract

The mechanics that make a domestic £50 referral relatively low-risk — a monthly rolling or short fixed tariff, price-cap protection, and a realistic ability to switch again later — mostly do not apply to business supply. If a business signs a multi-year fixed contract mainly because a referral reward was offered, and the underlying rate turns out to be uncompetitive, there is often no straightforward way out. Business contracts can run for up to five years, exit before the end of term can be expensive or contractually blocked altogether, and a poor renewal decision compounds every year it runs. Treat any referral reward as the last thing you check, not the first.

Sole traders and home-based businesses

If you're a sole trader, freelancer or small home-based business without a separate business premises or meter, you are very likely still a domestic customer for energy purposes, and the domestic £50 referral offer is the right route, not the business scheme. The distinction that matters is the meter and the premises, not the existence of a company or self-employment. If you work from a room in your own home on the household's existing domestic electricity and gas supply, that supply stays domestic. If you operate from a separate unit — a workshop, a rented office, a shop — with its own meter, that connection is business supply even if you are the only person in the business. When in doubt, check the meter type and how the premises is registered with the supplier rather than guessing from your job title.

Landlords and mixed-use premises

Landlords often deal with both kinds of supply at once: a domestic tenancy meter that a tenant controls, and possibly a separate business-rated supply for common areas, a ground-floor commercial unit, or a holiday let operated as a business. Each meter needs to be assessed on its own terms — a landlord referring a tenant into a domestic tariff uses the domestic scheme, while registering a commercially let unit or a holiday-letting business uses the business route. Mixing the two, for example trying to put a commercially let shop through a domestic referral link, is likely to be rejected by the supplier and, if it wasn't, would leave the premises without the correct VAT treatment or business-level protections.

What to do if you've already signed

If you've already committed to a business contract and are only now checking the referral terms, focus on what's still actionable rather than the reward. Confirm your exact contract end date and termination notice window immediately and diarise it, since missing that window is usually far more costly than any referral credit. If you believe you were mis-sold, for example by a broker who did not disclose commission, or terms that were materially misrepresented, raise it with your supplier in writing first; microbusinesses that remain unsatisfied can escalate to the Energy Ombudsman. If the contract genuinely is competitive, a referral reward from a friend or contact who referred you can still be claimed under the business scheme's own terms — check with Octopus Energy for Business directly, since we do not administer or verify business referral payments.

Glossary of business energy terms

Terms you'll meet when getting a business quote

MPAN: Meter Point Administration Number — the unique reference for an electricity supply point.
MPRN: Meter Point Reference Number — the unique reference for a gas supply point.
HH / NHH: Half-hourly vs non-half-hourly metering. HH meters record usage every 30 minutes and are common on larger or higher-demand sites; NHH meters are read periodically or estimated.
Deemed / out-of-contract rate: The (usually high) rate a supplier charges when a business is consuming energy without an agreed contract, for example after a contract lapses without renewal.
TPI / broker: Third Party Intermediary — an energy broker who sources quotes on a business's behalf, typically paid via commission built into the unit rate.
KVA / capacity charge: A charge related to the maximum electrical capacity reserved for a site, distinct from the charge for energy actually consumed.
Climate Change Levy (CCL): An environmental tax added to most non-domestic gas and electricity bills, shown as a separate line item.
Microbusiness: An Ofgem-defined category of small business (broadly under 10–50 employees and under specific consumption thresholds) entitled to extra contractual protections.

Switching a home instead?

If your supply is domestic, the £50 home referral offer is the right route, and the eligibility guide explains who qualifies.

Octopus Energy business referral: how the £75 credit works