Oxfordshire Energy Firm Marks Fifth Birthday with 40,000th Customer

Bicester-based Valda Energy, which supplies energy to businesses across the UK, is celebrating five successful years by signing its 40,000th customer.

The independent energy firm was established in 2019 by Steve James, recognising an opportunity in the market for a new independent business-to-business provider that could rival the established players.

Valda now has an annual turnover of £114m and employs 138 people. The company prides itself on offering a simple, secure and competitive energy supply, backed by innovative technology. It provides power to businesses across a range of sectors including manufacturing, commercial offices, retail and healthcare.

Its people have been the real driver of success for Valda. More than 10% of employees began their careers as apprentices, gaining a nationally recognised qualification alongside crucial industry experience. In the last 12 months alone, 21 members of staff have been promoted, including three onto the company’s senior leadership team. Employees also have access to a bespoke in-house learning and development hub, which offers further training on areas highlighted by staff and customers. This means that the content is regularly updated and refreshed, dependent on the needs of the business. Alongside this, staff are also given the opportunity to attend courses from relevant third parties.

The community created within the business extends further in Valda’s mission to support those local to them in Oxfordshire. Last December the team donated 50 Christmas gift bags to the Bicester Baby Bank Appeal, ensuring that children across the region woke up to clothes, food and toys on Christmas day. In October 2024, Valda increased their charitable work by supporting Bicester Foodbank’s annual harvest appeal, providing onsite support and food donations to the bank.

Steve James, CEO, comments: “My vision for Valda was to create a business that really understood the unique challenges of SMEs and would bring that knowledge together with the technology and innovation to deliver on its promises for customers. Five years on and we are now a well-established, well-funded and profitable business with a focus on achievable and sustainable expansion, reinvestment in the business, rewarding our people and retaining our culture as we grow.”

But the road to success has not been without its challenges, with a global pandemic hitting the business while still in its infancy, followed by a cost-of-living crisis and a period of high energy prices.

Steve continues: “We have certainly weathered our fair share of storms in a relatively short space of time and have had to adapt to a rapidly evolving market. What I’m most proud of is our people and the unique culture that we have built together. We have always fostered a spirit of empowerment and collaboration, celebrating innovation and championing inclusivity.

“The future is about sustainable growth, through investment in the business, in staff training and development and in our systems, processes and technology. It’s about continual business improvement, always striving for excellence and, of course, maintaining our culture as we grow.

“Our first priority, has always and always will be, providing competitively priced energy to our customers. A big part of that comes down to ensuring that we’re not reliant on expensive methods of sourcing and generating energy. We’re always looking to innovate and provide the best service to our customers.

He concludes: “I feel extremely positive about the next chapter for Valda. We have shown our mettle in navigating a tough operating environment and meeting some unique challenges head on, and have built a strong foundation in terms of our structure, our systems, our processes and our people. We now have a fantastic opportunity to build on that for our future success.”