The Bayford Group in Leeds has acquired this energy firm

E supplies gas and electricity to over 320,000 contracted customer accounts and has over 150 employees at its head office.

This is the latest move by the Leeds-based Bayford Group in the developing energy marketplace.

Three years ago, Bayford launched Gulf Gas and Power, in the UK and Netherlands, and has been building a presence in the downstream supply business in both territories.

Bayford, which celebrated its 100th anniversary last year, initially traded in Leeds as a coal distribution business and has remained in energy supply ever since.

The business has slowly been reducing its investments in fossil fuels.

The £95m sale of its fuelcard business last year to Edenred left Bayford with a 10 per cent shareholding.

Jonathan Turner, the entrepreneur behind the Bayford Group, sold his equity stake in Oilfast, an oil distributor in Scotland at the same time.

Mr Turner said: “I sat down with my team some years ago as I felt we needed to move away from fossil fuels and into new emerging energy markets. Clearly the world has and continues to rapidly move on since then and we are well-placed to take advantage of the electrical revolution.

“We are proud of our relationship with Gulf as it is a very strong brand that is 117 years old and customers want to do business with people they can trust and rely on.

“Bayford is 100 years old so between us, we have a business partnership with 217 years of experience.

“There is no one in the energy supply business who has that kind of history.”

The group says it is exploring other opportunities for Gulf investment in electric charge points, battery storage and other alternative energy also in other parts of Europe.

Mr Turner said: “This is one of the most exciting times to be in the energy industry. There is a global revolution happening and we are in the thick of it. I am very lucky to be surrounded by a great team who do their best to keep me sane and on the right track.

“We have a fantastic opportunity to shape the next 100 years for Bayford and the recent acquisition of E (Gas and Electricity) is the next step in realising our future ambition.”