Press Release

Business Stream responds to Defra Water White Paper

Our response to Defra's Water White Paper "Water for Life".

• Full non domestic competition in England will deliver significant benefit for businesses
• Competition has already delivered tangible benefits for business in Scotland
• Business Stream looks forward to shaping market structure and development

In response to the Defra Water White Paper issued today, which set out proposals to introduce full retail competition into England’s non-domestic water market, Mark Powles, chief executive of Business Stream, Scotland’s leading non-domestic water supplier, said:

“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."

“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.”

In reality the announcement today of retail competition is an encouraging first step on a very long journey. For the same successes to be delivered in England as 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

ENDS

Issued on behalf of Business Stream by The BIG Partnership
For more information, contact: Bryan Garvie or Charles Cameron on 0141 333 9585 or firstname.lastname@bigpartnership.co.uk

Notes to editors

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Scottish Water, Business Stream has been formed as an arms-length company with its own board and independent management team. Its goal is to provide a first class service for business customers and respond to the challenge of other established utility companies entering the new, competitive market which opened on 1 April 2008.

Under the Water Services etc. (Scotland) Act 2005, Scottish Water had to split its operation into wholesale (Scottish Water) and retail (Business Stream) units. Although ostensibly remaining a part of Scottish Water, Business Stream is a new business working completely independently of its parent company in order to ensure fair and transparent retail practice under the rules of the new competitive marketplace for business customers.