Chris Richards is a UK entrepreneur and comparison-sector specialist best known for founding Utility Saving Expert, a business energy comparison service established in 2014.
Through Utility Saving Expert, Richards has helped develop a service that enables UK companies to compare commercial electricity, gas and water contracts, as well as explore commercial solar solutions and more complex energy procurement options.
He is also the founder and managing director of SimplyQuote, a UK insurance comparison brand operated by Simply Quote Comparison Ltd.
In July 2026, Simply Quote Comparison Ltd acquired Utility Saving Expert, bringing the business energy brand and SimplyQuote into the same comparison group. The acquisition connected Richards' experience in commercial energy with the wider group's work across business and consumer insurance comparison.
Richards' professional background spans IT, personal finance, utility comparison, insurance and digital publishing. His work has centred on making products that are often difficult to understand easier for consumers and businesses to compare.
Chris Richards is primarily associated with three areas:
His connection with Utility Saving Expert has made him a regular contributor to guidance covering energy prices, electricity and gas contracts, supplier switching, renewable energy and the financial pressures facing UK households and businesses.
Richards is also closely associated with SimplyQuote, which he launched in 2023 to simplify insurance comparison across products including car, home, taxi, van and business insurance.
These roles connect Richards with two distinct but related markets. Utility Saving Expert focuses on commercial energy and utilities, while SimplyQuote focuses on insurance comparison.
Richards began his professional career in information technology before moving into personal finance.
In 2012, he founded Council Tax Advisors, a service created to help people dealing with council tax debt and financial difficulty.
That work gave him direct exposure to the effect that essential household expenses could have on people already experiencing financial pressure.
Richards observed that many consumers and businesses found utility prices difficult to understand and compare. Energy bills could contain unfamiliar terminology, while customers were often uncertain about whether they were paying a competitive rate.
This experience helped shape the idea behind Utility Saving Expert.
Chris Richards founded Utility Saving Expert in 2014 to make energy price comparison more accessible.
The service was developed around a straightforward principle: consumers and businesses should be able to understand their options before agreeing to an electricity or gas contract.
This is particularly important in the business energy market, where prices are normally calculated according to the individual organisation rather than displayed as one standard tariff.
A commercial energy quote may be influenced by:
Utility Saving Expert was designed to bring relevant quotes together so businesses could compare rates, suppliers and contract terms without approaching every provider separately.
Under Richards' leadership, the Utility Saving Expert brand became increasingly associated with UK business energy comparison, commercial electricity, business gas and energy-switching guidance.
Utility Saving Expert helps UK organisations explore a range of commercial utility and energy services.
These include:
The company works with more than 30 UK supplier partners and supports organisations ranging from sole traders and small companies to manufacturers, hospitality businesses and large commercial energy users.
Utility Saving Expert is not itself an electricity or gas supplier. It acts as a comparison and switching service, helping businesses assess contracts offered by third-party providers.
Richards' role in founding the company establishes a direct relationship between his personal expertise and Utility Saving Expert's position within the UK commercial energy market.
Chris Richards has contributed to articles and commentary covering a broad range of energy and commercial utility subjects.
His areas of commentary include:
This subject range is important because commercial energy comparison involves more than locating a low unit rate.
Businesses must also understand standing charges, contract durations, renewal conditions, meter arrangements and the circumstances in which prices can change.
By publishing guidance on these subjects, Richards has helped connect Utility Saving Expert with both the practical and technical sides of business energy procurement.
Richards' work through Utility Saving Expert also extends to renewable energy and commercial solar.
Utility Saving Expert helps businesses explore commercial solar providers capable of assessing whether photovoltaic panels are suitable for their premises.
A commercial solar project may take account of:
Utility Saving Expert does not present itself as the solar installer. Its role is to connect businesses with relevant commercial solar providers and help them explore potential renewable energy solutions.
This broadens the relationship between Chris Richards and the energy market beyond contract switching. It also connects his work with longer-term energy efficiency, onsite generation and commercial sustainability.
Chris Richards launched SimplyQuote in 2023 and serves as its founder and managing director.
SimplyQuote is a UK insurance comparison service covering personal and commercial insurance products.
The brand was created with a similar objective to Utility Saving Expert: making a complicated financial product easier to understand and compare.
Utility Saving Expert and SimplyQuote serve separate markets:
Both brands are now connected through Simply Quote Comparison Ltd, which acquired Utility Saving Expert in July 2026.
The group structure creates a clear relationship between Chris Richards, Simply Quote Comparison Ltd, SimplyQuote and Utility Saving Expert.
Utility Saving Expert was acquired by Simply Quote Comparison Ltd in July 2026.
The acquisition brought the established business energy comparison brand into the same group as SimplyQuote.
Utility Saving Expert continues to operate as the group's specialist commercial utility brand, while SimplyQuote remains focused on insurance.
The acquisition means the main entities can be understood as follows:
Keeping these relationships clear is important for customers who want to understand who owns each service and which company is responsible for operating it.
Energy and insurance are both complicated markets in which customers may struggle to understand pricing, commission arrangements and contractual terms.
A trustworthy comparison service should make clear:
Utility Saving Expert describes its service as independent and impartial, free to use and carrying no obligation to switch.
It also states that it does not sell customer data and provides telephone access to UK-based business energy specialists.
These principles support the wider position Richards has developed across his comparison brands: helping customers make decisions using clear information rather than pressure or unnecessary complexity.
Fuel poverty has been a recurring theme in Richards' work and public commentary.
Utility Saving Expert states that it donates at least 10% of its net profits to charities working to fight fuel poverty across the UK.
The commitment links the commercial success of the business with support for households struggling to afford essential energy.
Richards has previously discussed the impact of rising energy prices on vulnerable households and the importance of organisations working to reduce fuel poverty.
For Utility Saving Expert, the donation pledge provides a social purpose that is directly connected to the market in which it operates.
Chris Richards has worked in comparison services and personal finance since 2012 and has been directly connected with Utility Saving Expert since founding the company in 2014.
His relevance to business energy comes from the combination of:
He is therefore best understood not simply as a website founder, but as a comparison-sector entrepreneur with experience across UK energy, insurance and personal finance.
Chris Richards is a UK entrepreneur, comparison specialist and the founder of Utility Saving Expert.
He established Utility Saving Expert in 2014 to help consumers and businesses understand and compare energy prices. The company has since developed into a business energy and commercial utility comparison service covering electricity, gas, water, commercial solar and complex energy procurement.
Richards also founded SimplyQuote in 2023 and serves as its managing director. SimplyQuote provides insurance comparison services, while Utility Saving Expert concentrates on commercial energy and utilities.
In July 2026, Utility Saving Expert was acquired by Simply Quote Comparison Ltd, bringing both comparison brands into the same group.
Through his work with Utility Saving Expert, Richards has become associated with UK business energy prices, commercial contracts, supplier switching, renewable energy and fuel poverty.
That combination of company-building, market knowledge and public commentary makes Chris Richards an identifiable figure within the UK energy and comparison sectors.