An electronic parts distributor has acquired a 10% stake in an energy price comparison site for £200,000 in cash.

Rochester-based APC Technology also has the option to buy another 15% of Open Energy Market Limited (OEM) for the same amount over the next 12 to 18 months, subject to it reaching performance milestones.

The online platform – exclusively for commercial energy – would then me marketed and sold as a service offered by APC’s Minimise Solutions business.

It provides energy buyers direct access to the UK’s top 14 gas and electricity providers offering an efficient and fully transparent way to manage their energy procurement.

APC has also earned a contract to install LED lighting in three buildings run by one of the UK’s top high street banks.

The £425,000 order is expected to be complete by the early part of the next financial year and should become the first of a number of projects from the customer.

The company has also begun delivering LED lights to one of the UK’s major food and clothing retailers for the installation into refrigeration units in its approximate 500 stores.

The order has an initial value of £1m, which is set to increase when the full 500 stores have been surveyed.

APC chief executive Mark Robinson said: “We are very pleased to be engaged with two significant new customers, evidence of the on-going progress we are making in growing the depth of our customer base.

“Negotiations with further household names are ongoing and I look forward to reporting further news in due course.

“The investment we have made in OEM, whose mission it is to increase transparency in the energy broking market, perfectly complements our growing range of solutions and we’re delighted to be able to welcome them on board.

“Through OEM’s disruptive technology, we believe we are able to offer a compelling approach; enabling corporations to more efficiently control their energy procurement while at the same time helping them to control consumption through the technologies offered by Minimise Energy.”