UK water retailer retains global gold sustainability award

ONE of the UK’s largest water retailers has increased its score from the world’s largest sustainability assessors, placing the company in the 98th percentile of companies assessed globally.

Edinburgh-based Business Stream increased its score from 80/100 last year to 83/100 (awarded in January 2026). This included achieving an improved performance in three of the four areas assessed: environment (up from 86 to 88), labour and human rights (from 75 to 80) and sustainable procurement (from 79 to 83). The company maintained its strong score of 79 in the ethics category.

EcoVadis assesses more than 150,000 companies in over 200 industries on their sustainability credentials. The assessment is based on international sustainability standards, including the Global Reporting Initiative, the United Nations Global Compact and ISO 26000:2010.

Sophia Goring, Head of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) at Business Stream said: “Achieving an increased EcoVadis score this year is a powerful endorsement of the steps we’ve taken to strengthen our sustainability approach. The assessment enables us to not only benchmark our progress against international best practice, but to identify further ways we can strengthen our sustainability offering in the year ahead.”

This year’s application was supported by several new initiatives, including committing to set near- and long-term company-wide emission reductions in line with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

The response also drew on the launch of a comprehensive Customer Vulnerability Framework to ensure fair and inclusive support, which has seen the company roll out vulnerability training to frontline colleagues and develop a partnership with the National Support Network to provide external signposting support.  

Business Stream also continues to demonstrate its commitment to international sustainability standards through its membership of the United Nations (UN) Global Compact. Launched in 2000, the UN Global Compact is the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world, with more than 15,000 companies and 3,500 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and 70+ Local Networks. By joining the network, Business Stream meets annual reporting requirements to demonstrate how it’s supporting the delivery of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.