www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | JUNE 2014 | 15
Industry leaders
Dr Piers Clark
Commercial director
Thames Water
"The only way
that we're going
to engage with
customers is by
coming up with
more compelling
propositions."
T
hames Water is the utility that serves
London and the surrounding regions.
It is arguably the biggest water com-
pany in England and Wales although
that's in terms of the number of
customers served rather than the geography
covered. In the wake of the Water Bill gaining
Royal Assent, commercial director Dr Piers Clark
considers what competition means for the sector.
Q: What does the opening up of retail com-
petition mean for the UK water industry?
It's worth remembering that the UK water sector
has been openly competitive in the past. 120
years ago it was ultra competitive. If you lived in
London in the 1880s/1890s you would have had
a clear choice over your water supplier. Not only
could you have changed suppliers but all sorts
of nefarious practices went on. There are stories
of competing companies banging holes in each
other's pipes to cause disruption and to create a
'competitive edge'.
The competitive market only stopped in 1898
when the industry was nationalised following a
terrible drought which almost led to London run-
ning out of water. Here we are, 120 years later,
putting competition back into the water sector.
This time, of course, we won't have quite the
free-for-all that happened last time!
Q: Does the incumbent company have an
advantage?
I like to think that I have the advantage of seeing
both sides of this challenge as I am both the
incumbent in London, as part of Thames Water
Utilities Limited (TWUL) and the new entrant
outside of the Thames region, with Thames Wa-
ter Commercial Services Ltd (TWCSL).
With my TWUL hat on I represent the major
incumbent supplier to the business customers
in London. I've got 250,000 business customers,
