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Business Stream responds to Defra Water White Paper

We’re excited to see that customers are at the heart of change in the water industry in England.

Customers on both sides of the border have told us for many months that they wanted to see what Defra has announced today, and they will be very pleased they could stand to benefit from the improved customer service, keener pricing, and greater innovation that competition has already delivered in Scotland. We are encouraged by the commitment to work with the Scottish Government to create an integrated Scottish and English market.

In Scotland, 60 per cent of customers now receive a better deal as a direct result of competition, customer satisfaction has increased by over 11% and our customers have cut nearly £20 million from their water bills by reducing water consumption with our help. That would not have happened without competition, and certainly not within a few years, so we’re very interested to see how these benefits will translate in England’s larger non-domestic market.

This is a good time for businesses as the white paper puts customers at the heart of the water sector, giving them more power to influence the price they pay and to control the type of service they need for their business.

In reality theannouncement today of retail competition is an encouraging first step on a very long journey. For the same successes to be delivered in Englandas have been in Scotland the market must be structured around a number of key factors:

• Simplicity – there should be a simple market structure akin to Scotland
• Leadership – there will need to be strong leadership from the regulator
• Customer focused – the market will need to be created with the customer at the heart
• Level playing field – to ensure fair competition there will need to be a level playing field for new entrants

Business Stream has a retail license for England and looks forward to working with the rest of the stakeholders to create a market that delivers tangible benefits for businesses.