Water retailer delivers record customer savings

The UK’s second largest non-domestic water retailer, Business Stream, has saved its customers more than £30 million through discounts and water efficiency and energy savings over the past year, according to new figures released by the company.

The total annual savings for 2019/20 include over £15 million in customer discounts, over £12 million in water efficiency savings and nearly £2 million in energy savings for its customers across the UK.

Since 2008, Business Stream has saved customers in Scotland and England more than £272 million in discounts and 49 billion litres of water – the equivalent of nearly 20,000 filled Olympic sized swimming pools.

Jo Dow, Chief Executive of Business Stream, said: “Over the past twelve years we have listened to our customers across the UK and tailored our solutions to meet their needs.  Since the introduction of competition in Scotland in 2008 our aim has been to pass on the benefits of competition to businesses by delivering a customer-centric experience, innovative new services and keener pricing. And through our vision to make a positive difference to our customers, our people, the environment and the local communities we operate within – we have a strong focus on helping our customers to use water efficiently, which will deliver further financial and environmental savings”.

To help promote the environmental benefits of using water wisely, the retailer has also recently made its school water saving presentation available as a free online resource for parents and carers to use whilst children continue to be home schooled. The presentation, typically delivered at primary schools as part of its volunteering programme with Business in the Community (BiTC), can now be accessed on its website and includes parent guidance notes.

As part of this, Business Stream has also launched a competition for children to design a water saving poster. All posters submitted before Tuesday, 30 June will be entered into the competition where the winner will receive a £50 Amazon voucher and the winner’s school will receive a £100 Amazon voucher. Full details can be found on the website and posters should be submitted via e-mail to TheWaterExperts@business-stream.co.uk

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the retailer’s key focus has been protecting its employees and maintaining core services to its customers. Recognising the impact COVID-19 will have on businesses across the country, it has been working pro-actively with the Scottish and UK Government, regulators and wholesaler providers of water to implement additional measures to support those in need. This includes providing support to businesses that have had to temporarily close; offering a wide range of flexible payment plans and payment support arrangements.

The retailer recently announced that it had been awarded the water and wastewater services contract for the Ministry of Justice in a contract worth £70m.