Cafe forced to lay off staff just before Christmas during bill dispute with Nottingham energy firm

An electrician allegedly blew up the business’s light bulbs before the power was cut

A café says it has been forced to lay off staff just before Christmas during a dispute with a Nottingham energy firm that has left it with no power.

Energy supplier Yü Energy, which is based off Mellors Way in Strelley and supplies thousands of businesses across the UK, has been accused of unprofessional and unfair behaviour by another disgruntled customer – this time in Hyde, Greater Manchester.

Jay Ullah, owner of My Back Home Chai, was cut off by electric firm Yü on November 28, having been transferred to the company during a bill dispute with another supplier.

“I’ve laid off three full-time members of staff, and I couldn’t do anything about it,” the frustrated businessman said.

“My wife is about to give birth, and I’ve laid off someone who’s about to have a newborn.

“We are making barely any money and we are just about making enough to pay the rent at the minute.

“We don’t know if we can afford to open. We are using our neighbour’s power at the moment to keep our stock intact.”

Yü Energy has demanded a payment of around £20,000 to switch the small premises’ electricity back on, Mr Ullah claims.

The electric supplier took over his account from Clear Business earlier this year, starting a months-long nightmare that exploded his lighting, shut his shop, and forced him to consider selling up, he says.

Mr Ullah claimed that Clear had repeatedly charged him thousands of pounds in rebills, with the company once again doing so when his contract ended in April.

“I thought ‘Yes I’m going to get out of this contract’, but they sent a rebill a month before, saying that I owed them an extra five grand because the data was wrong.”

While Mr Ullah said he had opted to pay the fees before, he refused this time and demanded Clear investigate what he labelled as “unjustified” and “inflated” bills.

The director of My Back Home Chai, who said the firm had made all payments in its three-year contract with Clear, said Nottingham-based Yü Energy took over his account without warning.

“While they’re [Clear Business] investigating this, and we’re out of contract but still giving them meter readings, all of sudden Yü comes knocking. They bluntly, without anything to say welcome, took over from the end of August.”

This, according to Mr Ullah, is when things for his Bangladeshi family-inspired small business became dire.

Back Home Chai, in the absence of a contract due to the ongoing debt dispute, has been placed on “extremely” high day and unit rates and hit with out-of-contract charges.

While the café had been charged £700 or £800 a month before, Mr Ullah said Yü had inflated prices to around £1,000 and wanted around £20,000 up front – including a bond – to turn the power back on.

“Because there is a debt on the account we cannot leave. Clear Energy wants nothing to do with it anymore,” Mr Ullah said.

“They had no idea who I was or what had happened with Clear Energy. They kept calling me four different names.”

The businessman claimed that Yü staff had created two different accounts for his property’s two meters – resulting in him being double billed for enforcement and meter fees – and had “harassed” him for weeks about a different business he had no connection to.

The boss of the Hyde café, who used to work in a British Gas call centre, said “unprofessional” customer service workers also made promises to help him but the disputed balance was never reduced.

Offers to pay “reasonable” amounts to restore the power were rejected by the supplier, Mr Ullah claimed, with his business not being offered a payment plan.

Then on November 25, an alleged mistake by a Yü electrician who was switching the café’s meter burst its light bulbs, panicking staff and customers inside.

“It was like fireworks night – the engineer put 400 volts through our lights and everything started blowing up when we had customers in.

“But the report from the electrician said everything went smoothly.”

Days later, Mr Ullah’s conflict with the city-based firm culminated when power to his premises was turned off on November 28, plunging the business into a fight for its existence.

“It’s impossible,” the director said, explaining his passion project could not pay the tens of thousands it was being asked to. “We would have to close.”

Mr Ullah said he was leaning “80 per cent towards” selling the business as a result of the dispute, which shows no signs of resolution.

Yü Energy recorded a £22.6 million profit before tax in the first half of 2025, compared to £19.8 million in 2024.

“It benefits them to keep us out of contract, but they don’t want to understand what this debt is for,” Mr Ullah said. “What difference does the money make to them?”

Neither Clear Business nor Yü Energy responded to a request for comment.

The latter has also not responded to MP for Hyde and former business secretary Jonathan Reynolds.

The Labour politician, who was the secretary of state for business and trade until September, has said he will be making “urgent enquiries” on behalf of My Back Home Chai.