GB Energy spent over £10,000 on new logo after being mocked for ‘copying’

GB Energy shelled out more than £10,000 on its new logo after a previous version was mocked for copying one used by a US advertising firm.

Aberdeen SNP MSP Kevin Stewart says it is “ridiculous” the cash was spent after officials failed to check the original version.

A Freedom of Information request revealed the UK Government spent £10,710 (plus VAT) on legal and copyright fees surrounding the new GB energy logo.

The redesign was unveiled last year after it was revealed the original logo – which included a cartoon lightbulb – appeared to be an inverted version of one used by a New York-based firm.

The SNP says the incident is the latest in a “long line of embarrassments” for Labour’s flagship energy policy.

GB energy reportedly still has no “formal employees”, and is headquartered in an office already occupied by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

The boss of the government-owned energy first previously suggested it could take 20 years to fulfil Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s pre-election pledge of 1,000 jobs in the company.

Aberdeen Central MSP Kevin Stewart said: “Labour talked a good game on GB energy, but with no jobs, no office, and now over 10-grand wasted on a logo – this is yet another example of careless spending and a lack of seriousness when it comes to delivering real energy reform.

GB Energy ‘nothing more than a shopfront’

“Tragically, what this really shows is that GB energy is nothing more than a shopfront for the UK Government, with no substance behind it.”

A spokesman for the UK Government’s department for energy security and net zero said it was “false” to say the fees were a result of the first logo.

He added: “Great British Energy’s logo was designed by our in-house communications team and the only external costs were for legal advice and to trademark the brand – an essential legal process for every new organisation.

“Backed by £8.3 billion over this parliament, Great British Energy has already committed £350 million to help unlock major clean energy projects that will revitalise the UK’s industrial heartlands with new jobs, alongside securing Britain’s energy supply.”