A Dorset-based energy supplier to hundreds of thousands of households is about to become the latest casualty in a sector being hammered by soaring wholesale prices and the industry-wide price cap.

Sky News has learnt that Utility Point was on Tuesday on the brink of informing employees and customers that efforts to find a buyer have failed.

Sources said that Utility Point, which was founded in 2017, was likely to be taken into the control of Ofgem, the industry regulator, with its customer base reassigned to one of the sector’s biggest companies.

Utility Point has been working with Alvarez & Marsal, the professional services firm, for several months to find new investors.

It has roughly 225,000 energy customers, and provides home emergency cover and boiler servicing.

In June, the company’s chief executive, Ben Bolt, reportedly said that having built a loyal customer base since its launch it aspired “to becom[ing] the service and product hub for the domestic home”.

Its collapse will make Utility Point the latest failure in a market ravaged by them in recent years.

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This month alone, PfP Energy and MoneyPlus Energy have collapsed, affecting nearly 90,000 customers, while last month Ofgem was forced to step in to ensure continuity of supply

In a statement issued to Sky News, Mr Bolt said: “Recent international and national circumstances have created a perfect storm of events in the energy market which has meant that Utility Point has not been able to find a buyer for its business.

“Wholesale energy prices have soared to record levels and with the added price cap on default tariffs, the costs of supplying energy have increased dramatically.

“With every supplier undercharging for energy means that the fair cost that the regulator was trying to encourage has in fact had the opposite effect.”

“This mix of unfortunate circumstances and lack of commercialism in the industry made it impossible to continue.

“With great sadness, Utility Point will cease trading.

“Our priority is with our 200 colleagues in Poole and Bournemouth, who have fought hard in the face of tough challenges and helping 225,000 customers transfer to another energy provider with minimal disruption.”

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