Thames Water has announced that Castle Water is to provide billing and associated services for its business customers, including charities and public sector organisations.
Castle Water started to take on retail activities for business customers on behalf of Thames Water from autumn 2016, with responsibility transferring across in stages.
Castle Water will then acquire the business retail operation when the competitive market opens nationally from April 2017.
Thames Water chief executive Martin Baggs said the agreement will allow the company to concentrate on its core regional household business, allowing business retail specialist Castle Water to handle billing and cash collection for 250,000 business customers in the open market, including those in Scotland.
Mr Baggs said: “The Government is fully opening the national retail market for business customers in order to increase competition, welcome new entrants, inject new ideas and create a more diverse range of services tailored for business needs.
“Our decision will help to deliver those aspirations and we fully believe it is in the best interests of all our customers – both households and businesses.
“Responsibility for the water, pipes and underground infrastructure will stay with us – and we will continue to deliver a safe, reliable operational service to all our customers in the Thames Water supply region.
“Billing and cash collection for business customers is a highly specialised area and we expect it to become more so as the competitive market develops.
“Transferring this discrete element of our operations to Castle Water will allow us to focus all our energy on delivering excellent operational water and wastewater services to all our customers and retail services to household customers, who continue to see improvements in the service we deliver.
“In turn, it allows Castle Water to play to their greatest strength, which is in providing retail services tailored for business customers on a national platform.”
Thames Water will continue to provide retail services to household customers, which make up more than 95 per cent of its customer base.
The company will also continue to invest heavily in this area over the five-year regulatory period, including a significant investment in a new customer relationship and billing system for the household retail business.
It will also continue to supply water and wastewater services to all its existing customers, across London and the Thames Valley, retaining full responsibility for treatment and network operations – including 20,000 miles of water pipes and 68,000 miles of sewers – and operational customer enquiries.
John Reynolds, CEO of Castle Water,said: “We are excited about the opportunity to provide retail services to business customers in the Thames Water area, building on our experience as one of the fastest growing water suppliers in the UK.”
