Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/775086
Close up: Water retail water company in England to offer this capability, which is a convenient option for businesses and one which other water retailers will be keen to replicate. Customers: 130,000 7. Wave The business retail arm of Northumbrian Water Group (NWG), Wave was given its new brand identity in March 2016, and is led by Lucy Darch, managing director of Business Retail at the utility. Its initial customer base will be drawn from businesses in the North East of England and in Essex & Suffolk who were previously supplied by Northumbrian Water or Essex & Suffolk Water respectively. Customers: 110,000 8. Water2Business Wessex Water and Bristol Water have run a joint venture since 2000 for billing and retail services, so it was no surprise to see this co-operation extend to the new non-household market: water2business was formed in April 2015 and merged the business services divisions of the two companies into one entity. It has promised 'to make the water element of any business as simple and cost effective as possible' and to offer an efficient but personalised service. Customers: 90,000 Smaller players and new entrants Several of the country's water-only companies have decided to stay in the market and have rebranded their business divisions accordingly. These include SES Business Water (Sutton and East Surrey Water), South East Water Choice (South East Water) and Affinity for Business (Affinity for Water). The opening of the English market also provides an opportunity for Scottish retail companies who have been operating in the Scottish market since 2008 to find new customers south of the border. Two which have already received licences are Cobalt Water and Clear Business Water, while a third, Everflow, is expected to follow suit soon. Finally, entirely new entrants include The Water Retail Company, which is owned by Lord Redesdale and led by former Waterwise chief executive Jacob Tompkins; Blue Business Water, which says it intends to target SMEs; Peel Water, which conversely will target larger firms; water management firm Waterscan; and commercial gas supplier subsidiary Regent Water. • Business customers on the move The firms that will initially serve the business customer base of English water companies Southern Water Business Stream Yorkshire Water Three Sixty Severn Trent/United Utilities Water Plus Northumbrian Water/Essex & Suffolk Water Wave South West Water/South Staffs Water/ Cambridge Water Pennon Water Services Thames Water/Portsmouth Water Castle Water Wessex Water/Bristol Water Water 2 Business Anglian Water Anglian Water Business Sutton and East Surrey Water SES Business Water Affinity Water Affinity for Business South East Water South East Water Choice 20 | FEBRUARY 2017 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk 5. Anglian Water Business Anglian's business water retail arm stole a march on some of its rivals by winning a £350M contract with the Scottish Government to supply public sector organisations north of the border in October 2015. It has said it is likely to rebrand before April in order to help its efforts in winning new business across the country. Customers: 140,000 6. Three Sixty Three Sixty is a subsidiary of Kelda Group, the parent company of Yorkshire Water, and has been providing retail services under contract to Yorkshire Water's 130,000 non-household customers since April 2016. In April this year all these customers will transfer to the new company, as well as those out-of- area large businesses which have previously been supplied by Kelda Group's non-regulated business Kelda Water Services. The company has already secured contracts with big name customers such as BT Group and Royal Mail in Scotland. However not all has gone smoothly for the company so far: its managing director at launch, Robert Marrill, lasted only four months before stepping down for undisclosed reasons and being replaced by Nick Topham. Based in Barnsley, one advantage Three Sixty has is the Electronic Interchange Billing (EDI) system inherited from Yorkshire Water; YW was the first