The regional offices in Cambridge, Darlington, Manchester, Exeter, London, and Bristol will be closed – although there are no complaint handling staff at the latter.
The Birmingham headquarters and CCWater’s Cardiff office will remain open as the watchdog adapts to a falling number of complaints in the sector and the introduction of the alternative dispute resolution system.
Up to 20 members of staff potentially face losing their jobs if they are unable to be redeployed within the business.
CCWater chief executive Tony Smith said the number of complaints in the water sector, which have fallen from 185,140 in 2010/11 to 123,218 in 2013/14, mean the watchdog needs to change the way it operates.
Speaking exclusively to Utility Week, he said: “As the complaint numbers drop, one of the things we want to continue to be is value for money. That is quite an important element.”
He added that the introduction of the alternative dispute resolution (ADR), which comes into force from 1 April 2015, will also reduce the number of complaints the watchdog will need to deal with even further.
Smith said that another driver behind the restructure is the introduction of non-domestic retail competition from 2017.
He added: “There is going to be a whole new raft of complaint issues. They will be different in nature to the existing complaints.
“It is better to do so in fewer locations because you get the benefits of scale from that. We think we can handle that more effectively and prepare for the national issues we expect to come in.”
Smith also stated that the “strong regional presence” of CCWater will be maintained, with the watchdog retaining its regional chairs and customer advocates.