The Bayford Group, which comprises a range of businesses in energy, property investment and development and hospitality, has acquired a £160m-turnover gas and electricity supplier.

E (Gas and Electricity) Ltd has more than 170 employees based at its head office in Birmingham. The company supplies gas and electricity to more than 320,000 contracted customer accounts and has a turnover of £160m.

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

The Bayford Group is exploring other opportunities for Gulf investment in electric charge points, battery storage and other alternative energy, as well as targeting expansion in Europe.

Jonathan Turner, who leads the group, 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."

Bayford, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2019, initially traded in Leeds as a coal distribution business and has remained in the energy supply market ever since.

The group has been reducing its investments in fossil fuels in recent years. The £95m sale of its fuelcard business last year to Edenred left Bayford with a 10 per cent shareholding. Turner also sold his equity stake in Scottish oil distributor Oilfast, Scotland which he had started five years ago with business partners.

Turner added: "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."

Deloitte provided transaction and taxation services to Bayford.