A choice in water is coming soon to England...

The water market in England will open to competition for all business users!

Water for non-domestic supplies in England is going to join the ranks of Gas and Electricity throughout the UK, by entering the open market place as of April 2017. Opening up a former monopoly to competition means that for the first time millions of business, charity, public sector, and non-domestic water users will have the freedom to choose their water and waste water service providers. By opening up this large market to competition, the hope is that end users will benefit from improvements in service and price, investment in our water infrastructure will be encouraged, and efficiency in the overall system will improve.

Yes, lower prices are great, but the knock on effects could be even more important, and have a greater financial impact than simply lowering the rate, especially amongst the larger or more complex water consumers. Imagine, how much time and money a multi-site organisation will save by co-ordinating water consumption from multiple locations onto a single account, instead of dealing with multiple local providers and bills. Such co-ordination and simplification brings with it scale of economy benefits for future contract negotiation, plus massive reductions in administration burden over the long run. Facilitates should benefit from improved monitoring, budget planning and resource management.

History has taught us then when a former monopoly market opens up to competition, the end consumer transitions from the role of recipient to an active participant in the market. With the introduction of freedom of choice, the consumer becomes more engaged and involved. In the water sector, this will translate into consumers becoming more conscious of their water usage and spend. An informed consumer, will be more likely to make intelligent decisions, and seek not only the best price, but ways to take advantage of added value services. Since the water in your tap will be the same regardless of supplier, water companies will be forced to compete on price, service and the offering of added value services. The added value will include consumption monitoring tools that will enable organisations to track water consumption, this information will be the starting point to identify ways to reduce overall consumption.

As we have demonstrated in the gas and electricity market for close to 20 years, Direct Power prides itself on the proactive handling of client accounts. This is why, at this time we are requesting our existing and new clients alike to share a recent water bill with us. Once your Direct Power account manager is familiar with your water usage he or she will be better positions to serve you and your organisation as we approach April, 2017. It is early days, and Direct Power will evolve as this market opens. We aim to keep our customers updated from the very beginning so we can work together towards an improved water future, so please CONTACT US should you have any questions.

Additional information regarding the upcoming changes to the non-household retail market can be found on the Ofwat website. Ofwat is the economic regulator of the water sector in England.