For years people have been upgrading. Take the music industry, for instance. We’ve moved from wax cylinders to MP3s in under 150 years. The question is: can the water industry follow this example?
Comments | Category: Competitive water market
Expert blog
Keep up to date and get involved with what's happening in the water industry with Business Stream's blog.
Pushing the Boundaries: what the water industry can learn from an Austrian skydiver travelling at 834mph?
By Mark Powles
22 October 2012
Watching Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner peer over the edge of a 24-mile high platform, about to leap, I had a thought: who was this guy and why wasn’t diving out of a 120mph plane at 13,000 feet enough?
Comments | Category: Competitive water market
It’s one’s party and I’ll attend if I want to
By Mark Powles
12 June 2012
More than 10,000 Diamond Jubilee street parties were organised across the country last week to celebrate 60 years of the Queen’s reign. From the hundreds of miles of bunting which decorated streets, to the barbeques and children’s games, the UK celebrated in style. However, imagine if the rules meant organisers were prohibited from attending their own street party? Until recently, ‘in-area trading’ regulations meant that English and Welsh water suppliers were faced with exactly that problem.
Comments | Category: Competitive water market
Power to the customer – and not just in Scotland
By Mark Powles
09 December 2011
Defra white paper puts customers at the heart of water policy.
Comments | Category: Competitive water market
The first spark of competition
By Mark Powles
02 November 2011
Could Defra threshold announcement light the competition fire?
Comments | Category: Competitive water market
Water way to start
By Mark Powles
11 July 2011
We’ve found that, when communicating with customers or other people about what we do, it’s hard to avoid water puns. We’ve got innovative new services ‘in the pipeline’; we’re ‘testing the water’ on a range of new tailored products; or our customers are ‘making a splash’ in their own businesses with water efficiency and financial savings. But one thing we’ve found since we began supplying water to Scottish businesses and public bodies just over three years ago, is that – in a new competitive water market – communication is everything.
Comments | Category: Competitive water market