De-Regulation of the Water Industry in England

The water industry in England deregulated on 1 April 2017, for commercial supplies only. One of the main benefits for this reform will be consolidated billing (should you have more than one water account/multiple sites in different areas). We will continue to keep a close eye on how this develops (including the saving opportunities) and regularly attend industry seminars on the topic. There have been a number of changes including some of the historic suppliers have exited the commercial market, some have merged and new suppliers have entered. For instance: United Utilities and Severn Trent are combining their non-household water and wastewater retail businesses into one joint venture business, Water Plus. Non-household customers in the Portsmouth and Thames Water regions will transfer to Castle Water on market opening. Southern Water’s customers will transfer to Business Stream. When the market opens those customers will be free to switch to another retail provider should they wish. Pennon Group (owners of South West Water) recently acquired Bournemouth Water. Wessex Water has taken a 51% share in Albion Water and set up a joint venture for providing services to new developments. The water markets in Wales and Northern Ireland are not due to deregulate at present. We can explain the water market in more detail and please contact us for more information.