Guide
03 Sep 2026
We’re inviting you to join our next group basket to benefit from Zenergi’s flexible purchasing strategies. Forward energy markets are showing increasingly favourable prices over the next five years, allowing you to minimise your energy costs by maximising market opportunities.
With our flexible basket you’ll benefit from our trading team’s extensive experience employing trading strategies that leverage favourable energy price movements throughout the whole term of your contract.
Our Flexible Purchasing service helps you secure better energy prices, by leveraging optimal prices in short and long-term markets to spread the risk of volatile market conditions. It allows you to benefit from favourable energy price movements throughout the whole term of a contract, instead of being restricted to a single procurement decision, as is the case with fixed contracts. This is a particularly useful strategy in a market where prices are falling.
Historically, Flexible Purchasing was limited to larger energy users. Today, suppliers are providing these options to groups of smaller customers operating within a ‘managed basket’. This means that, whatever your energy consumption levels, we can offer a Flexible Purchasing solution to suit.
You delegate us to purchase in advance, where we’ll use our extensive trading expertise to take advantage of year-on-year discounts, buying portions of your gas and/or electricity for the forwards periods while prices are low. It means you can take advantage of favourable prices when the market dips and avoid further energy spikes during market volatility.
We can determine the best flexible strategy for your organisation by understanding:
We offer a choice of three flexible trading options designed to take advantage of movements in the energy market.
Zen Secure
This strategy suits organisations that desire budget certainty and want their energy traded on multiple occasions, not in a single transaction as is the case with a fixed contract.
Since 100% of the annual volume is purchased no later than six months before the delivery period, this product gives you complete budget certainty. Contract start dates are restricted to either April or October and require a minimum lead time of 12 months so that trades can be made before the six-month deadline. The contract duration is three years, so we can maximise purchasing in advance on the forward wholesale markets.
Zen Hybrid
This strategy suits organisations that want their energy purchased flexibly to spread the risk of volatile markets but are happy with some variation on monthly pricing.
A minimum of 50% of the volume must be purchased as we enter a new market season, but anything up to 100% can be purchased, if our Market Watch team recommend it. The remaining volume for the delivery month, if applicable, is settled on the day-ahead market. Contract start dates are restricted to either April or October and require a minimum lead time of three months, with contract lengths of between 12 and 36 months.
Zen Tracker
This strategy purchases all volume on the day-ahead market and is the most flexible, allowing contracts to be locked-in with zero notice required and no minimum contract length.
While this product does not provide budget certainty, it can be highly beneficial in a long-term, downward market. The minimum contract length is 12 months.
With our expert team monitoring the market and driving your purchasing strategy you can rest easy, spreading the risk of volatile market conditions and leveraging optimal prices throughout the duration of your contract."
Alex Payne
Director of Energy Markets & Procurement
You’ll receive quarterly updates summarising how the basket is performing at a wholesale cost level. You are also able to take advantage of non-commodity costs that are fixed at least annually in advance. These allow you to get a high degree of budget certainty.
When markets are particularly volatile, many clients want to avoid securing all their energy in one go. With the Hybrid strategy we buy energy in advance, in smaller tranches, to take advantage of dips in the market. This spreads the risk and shields you from sudden price spikes that can occur when you purchase all your energy on one day.
Energy markets are unpredictable, but our flexible strategies reduce your exposure by spreading purchasing across multiple points in time. This proven strategy balances opportunity with protection, lowering the risk of overspending during volatile periods. With access to the Day Ahead market, this often allows cheaper prices to be obtained within month once risk premiums have been removed.
Managing energy procurement can be complex and time-consuming. By joining our energy basket, you can leave the day-to-day monitoring and trading decisions to our expert team, freeing up your time to focus on your responsibilities.
At Zenergi, we’re not just about buying energy. You will also benefit from our wider support, from making sure your contracts start on time, to validating your bills and monitoring your consumption through our Portal. You’ll also access expert sustainability guidance and compliance advice to help with reporting and efficiency projects, ensuring your school gets long-term value as well as short-term savings.
To be included in the flexible basket we ask you to register your interest as soon as possible (by 15.10.26 ) so that we can assess volume levels. The earlier we can build volume, the more opportunity we will have to take advantage of market prices.
By joining our basket, you’ll access the strategies usually only reserved for larger organisations.
If you want to take advantage of the market and don’t want to sign off all your energy spend on one day, our flexible basket gives you that freedom. Register your interest without obligation today.
