Are Wholesalers ready and able to comply with the MOSL Water Codes obligations on keeping Retailers informed of events or issues that have the potential to affect their customers?
In April 2017, Water Wholesalers and Retailers alike will be faced with managing the many new challenges and opportunities that the Water Market reform brings to the non-household sector.
Regardless of the eventual number of Retailers that operate in the market, and the current forecast is that there will be circa 50 by the end of the first year; it is a statutory requirement of the Market Operator Codes of Practice, within Parts D, E and F; that all Retailers will receive information on any events or issues, planned or reactive, that may impact or affect the supply of water supply and waste services to their customers. Additionally, this information needs to be supplied within specified timescales.
One of the key challenges for Wholesalers therefore, is how to successfully and efficiently administrate their service to Retailers to notify them of interruptions or changes to water supply and waste services in a timely and accurate way, complying with the Market Codes.
Although this is a regulatory imperative for Wholesalers, it makes sound business sense for the market as a whole, since Retailers can in turn manage and hopefully meet their customers’ expectations, delivering the improved levels of customer service that market competition seeks to achieve.
However, with 28 Water Wholesalers supplying circa 50 Water Retailers across the UK, an exponential complexity in the dissemination of information begins to grow, depending on individual Retailer business preferences, capability and resources available.
Remaining compliant and satisfying the demands of up to 50 Retailers or more in serving up information in varying formats, via different channels to numerous points of contact is undoubtedly a tough challenge for most Wholesalers to meet effectively and efficiently.
Equally, Retailers will require information updates and feeds that satisfy and work effectively with their own operational processes and structures!
So where is the market at with this conundrum? It is not yet clear how each Wholesaler plans to deal with this potential communication maelstrom. The onus is clearly on them to meet their legal obligations and Retailers will want reassurances that there are effective processes in place from day one.
Much of the pre-market opening commentary and industry focus to date has been on achieving improved customer service and this issue obviously forms part of that.
Dave Toms from Castle Water commented at Future Water Networks 2016 that “customers want a simple and clear point of contact” and Tom Norman of MOSL, speaking at the same event, reiterated this point by saying ”market reform will require focus on delivering good customer service and engagement”. But have all the bases been covered?
Keeping Retailers informed of possible disruptions or an event affecting their customers’ supply is of critical importance and a high priority from all perspectives.
If a business customer has problems with its water supply or waste water service that impacts the functioning and/or running of the business, receiving accurate and timely communication about it from their Retailer, including information on the cause, duration and resolution of the problem is going to be a priority for them.
So, is the Nirvana of delivering better customer service realisable, to any degree? It is unlikely to be deliverable by the customer-facing Retailer alone, if all or other preceding elements of the supply chain, i.e. the Wholesaler, isn’t able to provide, through effective processes, the information and support that the Retailer needs.
It remains to be seen, who and how many of the Wholesalers have a workable solution to this challenge and more importantly have it in place ready for the market opening in April.
Anglian Water has recognised the importance of being ahead of the curve and has been refining its chosen solution during the implementation of the shadow market. It will be using the Retailer Notification Service (RNS) a hosted service from digdat.
Don Maher, Head of Wholesale Market Services at Anglian Water explains why they have chosen RNS as their solution. “The Open Market presents new challenges in a new operating environment. We needed a solution to keep our Retailers informed of planned and unplanned works and incidents that have the potential to affect their non-household customers’ service or supply, in real time. digdat RNS provides notifications relevant to each Retailer all in one place, and enables them to comment or feedback on specific events and follow, or opt to receive relevant updates on events of interest to them.
“This solution has a minimal impact on our business as we implement it and we’re confident that it will help deliver the high levels of customer service we are striving to give to all our customers.”
