Style guide

Our established writing standards and rules that govern the way we write for product

Price

Always place the ‘£’ currency symbol in front of the number value without a space between.

Do

£150

Don't

£ 150

If the price isn’t a whole number, include two decimal places.

Do
  • £6.40
  • £20
Don't
  • £6.4
  • £20.00

For values larger than £999, use commas between every three zeros (also called ‘thousands separators’).

Do
  • £1,000
  • £30,000
  • £500,000
  • £1,000,000

For values smaller than £1, we label the price with the shorthand ‘p’ for pence.

Do

70p

Don't

£0.70

Displaying rates

By timeframe

Use ‘a’ as the denominator when writing about recurring costs over a specific timeframe, as it feels more conversational and natural.

Do
  • £20 a month
  • £150 a year
Don't
  • £20 per month
  • £150/year

Only use the adjective forms such as ‘daily’ or ‘monthly’ in inline copy when you’re referring to timeframes.

Do

Your monthly bill

Don't

£20 monthly

By energy use

Use ‘per’ as the denominator when referring to costs based on energy units.

Since ‘kWh’ is more widely recognised than ‘kilowatt hour,’ we use the acronym.

Do
  • 7p per kWh
Don't
  • 7p per kilowatt hour

Price ranges

Write out ‘to’ to indicate a range, but if there’s not enough space, use the en dash in place of it.

Always include the currency symbol, right before the numeral value.

Do
  • £100 to £250
  • £100 – £250
Don't
  • £100 to 250
  • £100–250

If you’re writing an undefined price range:

  • use ‘up to’ for a price range that’s below the maximum
  • use ‘and up’ for a price range that’s above the minimum
Do
  • Up to £100
  • £50 and up
Don't
  • £100 or less
  • £50 or more
  • £50+
  • No more than £100

Numbers

We generally use numerical values when writing numbers because it’s better for scanning.

Do

Answer 8 quick questions to personalise your insights and offers

Don't

Answer eight quick questions to personalise your insights and offers

However, we always spell out the number when we:

  • use ordinals (‘1st,’ ‘5th’)
  • include numbers in conjunctions
  • refer to numbers in the hundreds and thousands in a general sense
  • refer to round numbers in the millions and billions, or in a general sense.
Do
  • Be the first to sign up
  • A one-time payment
  • Save hundreds every year with solar panels
  • We've planted 5 million UK trees since 2015
  • There are millions that trust OVO with their energy
Don't
  • Be the 1st to sign up
  • A 1-time payment
  • Save 100s every year with solar panels
  • We've planted 5,000,000 UK trees since 2015
  • There are 1,000,000s that trust OVO with their energy

For values larger than 999, we use commas between every three zeros (also called ‘thousands separators’).

Do
  • 1,000
  • 10,000
  • 100,000
  • 1,000,000
  • 10,000,000
  • 100,000,000