Independent electricity supplier BizzEnengy, whose customers included over 40,000 small and medium sized enterprises has entered administration.

Centrina, the owners of British Gas, have bought the company for £3.5m in cash. Although Centrina claim that customers will be largely unaffected, the closure of another independent supplier is being seen as a blow to small businesses.

The company was founded in 2000 and was one of the UK's largest independent electrical suppliers, with a turnover last year in excess of £175m.

BizzEnergy is the second independent utilities supplier to go out of business in recent weeks, following the collapse of Electicity4Business.