A LUXURY hotel near Oxford is numbered among many satisfied customers of energy bill-busters Pro-Eco.

Thanks to them, the owner of Studley Priory, at Horton-cum-Studley, near Oxford, recently received a £12,000 refund from Southern Electric.

Energy economists Pro-Eco have also conjured up surprise refund cheques from Southern Electric for delighted managers at other hotels, including The Old Bell in Malmesbury (£2,700), and Whatley Manor at nearby Easton Grey (£13,480).

Pro-Eco says there are about 500 different tariffs charged in the UK by privatised electricity and gas companies. Their economists go through small businesses' energy bills with a toothcomb to spot errors. They also audit how energy is used, resulting in on-going savings in addition to windfall cheques rectifying past mistakes.

Using the correct equipment and adjusting the setting of hot water systems, even by a few degrees, can save a small fortune.

Southern Electric refunded the Studley Priory Hotel after Pro-Eco pointed out that the company had fitted a wrong timeswitch back in 1992. The hotel had been paying too much money for almost six years.

Mr Gulliford said: "It is the small to medium-size companies, with electricity spend in excess of £3,000 a year, that are still unaware of the huge savings available to them."

He added: "We have operated for 30 years and of course we never charge anything up-front. Customers cannot lose because they only pay a percentage of savings actually achieved.

"I would warn people never to use energy economists who cannot show genuine recent references."

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