New water market brings choice for businesses – workshop 24 February
In just five weeks’ time eligible businesses in England will be free to choose their water retailer. There are three workshops coming up where you can find out about the changes in the water market and how you can benefit. The first is in Bath on 24 February.
Workshop for businesses to look at choosing your water supplier:
Businesses in the south west are being invited to a workshop to find out more about the opportunities that may be open to them when the UK’s retail water market opens up to competition.
From 1 April, 1.2 million businesses, charities and public sector customers in England will be able to choose who supplies their water and wastewater retail services – this includes billing, water metering and water efficiency services. Eligible customers will benefit from more tailored packages and better customer service. But in order for that to happen, customers need to know what’s happening and be aware of the choices they can make.
Open Water – a partnership made up of the water regulator Ofwat, Market Operator Services Ltd (MOSL) and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) – is holding a free workshop in Bath on Friday 24 February (10-12am followed by lunch). This will cover how the new market will work, what businesses need to know to make an informed choice about who supplies their water and wastewater services in the future and to ask questions of the panel.
Cathryn Ross, Ofwat Chief Executive says: “In just a few weeks, we will see the opening of the largest market of its kind in the world when the retail water market opens its doors for business. For eligible customers in the South West, this represents an opportunity to find a retailer who best suits their needs such as providing consolidated billing for multiple sites, online billing and metering checks or improvements to water efficiency.
“A new market for water retail services means customers will demand more bespoke and specialised services and technology and retailers will need to respond to that. There are currently 15 retailers who have been licensed to operate from 1 April and details of these are available on the Open Water site along with details about how customers – particularly small to medium sized enterprises will be protected – something which is of course very important.”
The workshops have been set up following a recent England wide survey, commissioned by Ofwat which found that only a quarter of eligible businesses, public sector and charity organisations in the South West are aware of the changes taking place.
If you would like to attend the event, which is free of charge, please email claire.nichols1@ofwat.gsi.gov.uk for more details.
