Why We Nearly Didn’t Join Utility Warehouse
Published May 2026
Looking back now, it’s strange to think that we very nearly ignored Utility Warehouse (UW) altogether.
Today, it has become a major part of our lives and one of the smartest long-term financial decisions we’ve ever made.
But in the beginning, neither of us saw it that way at all.
At the Time, We Were Already Busy Enough
Back in 2009, I had recently left a 29-year career with BT and started building a local computer repair business.
Like many people starting self-employment, I was focused entirely on trying to make one business work.
The idea of starting another business alongside it seemed unrealistic.
Financially, things also felt uncertain after the 2008 property crash had disrupted other plans we’d made around property investment.
We were cautious, stressed, and very aware that mistakes could become expensive.
The First Time UW Was Mentioned to Me
I was approached by a local UW Partner after leaving business cards in local shops for my computer repair business.
His first suggestion was simple:
if I repaired computers, people would probably ask me about broadband too — and UW provided broadband services.
He suggested I should become a UW Partner.
My immediate reaction was basically:
“There’s no way I can start two businesses at once.”
At the time, even the joining fee felt difficult to justify financially.
What Slowly Changed My Thinking
The interesting thing is that I did not suddenly become excited about UW overnight.
In reality, my mindset changed gradually over around 18 months.
During that time, I attended local networking groups where I met more business owners and started noticing something important:
almost everyone was looking for ways to create more stability and leverage in their lives.
I also became increasingly aware of the weakness of relying entirely on active income.
Running a computer repair business taught me very quickly that:
If the phone stopped ringing, the income stopped too.
Holidays, illness, quiet periods — everything directly affected income.
That made the idea of residual income feel increasingly sensible.
Emma Was Even More Sceptical Than Me
When I first mentioned becoming a UW Partner jointly, Emma’s response was not exactly enthusiastic.
In fact, her initial reaction was:
“Over my dead body!”
She eventually agreed for her name to be included simply because adding it later would cost more money and, as she put it:
“Who knows what might happen in future?”
Neither of us imagined then how important the business would eventually become.
The Business Started Very Slowly
One thing I think is important to say honestly:
we were not instant success stories.
It took me around six months to gather my first two customers.
I was introverted, inexperienced, and still mainly focused on my computer repair business.
But over time, things slowly began to build.
The more we understood the business model, the more sense it made to us.
What We Eventually Realised
The biggest shift was realising that Utility Warehouse was not about “getting rich quickly”.
It was about building something steadily over time.
Household services are things people already need:
- Energy
- Broadband
- Mobile
Helping customers with those services created the possibility of recurring long-term income rather than constantly starting from zero every month.
Final Thoughts
If you’re currently sceptical about opportunities like Utility Warehouse, that’s understandable.
We were too.
But sometimes the opportunities that quietly make the most sense are not the ones that initially look the most exciting.
For us, UW gradually became less about “selling” and more about building long-term financial stability around services people genuinely use every day.