Happy African American waitress holding an open sign at a restaurant and looking at the camera smiling

In six months time all non-household customers in England will have the opportunity to switch to a different water retailer. But what could that mean for your business? Our next business customer meeting in October is the perfect place to find out more, as our organiser Lucy Byrnes explains.

As consumers we are used to making choices – whether it’s switching our energy supplier, mobile phone provider or the car that we drive. Our choices matter – not least when we’re managing a business.

But did you know that six months from now businesses across England will be faced with another important choice over a service that many of us never think twice about – water. Changes to the water market will mean from April 2017 new retailers will be able enter the market and compete to provide 1.2 million businesses and other non-household customers with customer-facing services including billing, meter reading and dealing with customer enquiries.

Many other aspects of the water industry will remain the same once the market opens. The existing monopoly water companies that many of us are familiar with will continue to source, treat and distribute water, as well as remove and treat the wastewater we all produce. They will be the ‘wholesalers’. But giving customers a choice over their retailer could open up a sea of opportunities for organisations to save money or access new services that could benefit their business.

If you’re keen to discover more about how these changes could affect your organisation, you won’t want to miss our next business customer meeting in Birmingham on Wednesday, October 5.

We’ll be delving into the detail of competition and taking a look at whether the water industry is on course to deliver a market that works for all customers, including those who choose not to, or are unable to, switch.

We’ll be joined by guest speakers from MOSL and Ofwat, who are two of the key organisations with responsibility for delivering non-household competition. After hearing their presentations, and enjoying a networking lunch, you’ll have the opportunity to put your questions to our guests and CCWater.

If you’re interested in joining us for our meeting at Victoria Square House at 10.30am please email me at [email protected]