The company, which has rebranded its business retail arm as Affinity for Business, became the final incumbent to make its intentions for the market known in September. Now that its licence has been granted, Affinity will be able to operate as a water retailer to its existing customers as well as compete for new ones.
It is intended that Affinity for Business will become the retail supplier for customers in the Affinity Water regions via the Retail Exit mechanism. The new brand will be introduced to non-household customers in the Affinity Water supply area throughout the autumn.
Affinity said it would “continue to deliver reliable, high quality services that support long term relationships, providing tailored solutions that help businesses manage their water use, saving energy and money”.
From April 2017 all businesses customers, charities and public sector organisations will be able to choose their retailers for water and waste water services.
All of the incumbent water companies have now announced their plans, at least in the short-term.
So far, Portsmouth Water, Southern Water and Thames Water have announced plans to exit the market. Scottish retailer Castle Water will take on the business customers of Portsmouth and Thames, while Southern’s customers will be handed to Scottish incumbent supplier Business Stream.
The total number of companies to have applied for licences since Ofwat opened the process now stands at 18. The regulator has predicted as many as 40 new applications in the coming year.
Scottish players Castle Water, Business Stream, Cobalt Water and Clear Business Water have all submitted applications to participate in the English market. As has water management firm Waterscan and commercial gas supplier subsidiary, Regent Water.
English incumbents which have applied for licences are: Northumbrian Water Business – which has rebranded as Wave – Pennon Water Services, Anglian Water Business, Sutton and East Surrey Water Services, South Staffordshire Water Business, Water 2 Business, and Kelda Retail – which has been incorporated into Kelda Group’s new retail arm Three Sixty.
South East Water Choice has applied for a sewerage licence only, in order to provide its existing customers with a combined water and sewerage bill. It has also applied for a water supply and sewerage licence through its subsidary Invicta Water, trading as Water Choice South East.
Severn Trent and United Utilities have also applied for their joint venture Water Plus, which was announced at the beginning of March. Chief executive Sue Amies-King told Utility Week that Water Plus would be “agile and innovative”, and bring in “fresh new ideas” from the new people being recruited.
Small Scottish supplier Everflow told Utility Week it is considering buying into the English market when it opens and will be applying for a licence soon. Veolia UK has also said it wants to grow its retail activities in the market, but has not yet applied for a licence.
New entrant Blue Business Water also told Utility Week it will apply for a licence before Ofwat’s deadline. Director Chris Clark stressed that it is keen to acquire the customer bases of companies looking to exit.