Anglian Water Business, Sutton and East Surrey Water (SESW) Services, Water 2 Business – a joint venture between Wessex Water and Bristol Water, and Kelda Retail – the business retail arm of Yorkshire Water – have all applied to Ofwat for a licence in the past week.
Anglian Water Business said it will “build upon the strong position it has already established in the Scottish market”.
Sutton and East Surrey Water Services said it will “build on its current activities as a holder of a water supply licence in England and a water and sewerage licence in Scotland”.
It will also serve the non-household customer base of SESW, which intends to ‘exit’ the market when it opens.
SESW Services will “seek other opportunities to offer value and great service to customers across the country”.
Water 2 Business said: “W2B’s strategy is to improve the excellent level of service whilst maintaining the pricing that these customers already experience, and extend this to their customers’ other sites across the country and to provide value added services.
“While W2B will inevitably lose some customers to other retailers this strategy, even with some prudent assumptions about customer growth, it delivers a sustainable set of financial forecasts.”
Kelda Retail said it aims to create a “sustainable, trusted and transparent business”.
“By offering water retailing and a range of products and services we will help businesses manage their water usage seamlessly and effectively. How we will achieve this is built on the themes of being brilliant at the basics and creating a winning organisation,” it added.
This latest bout of applications brings the total number 12, since Ofwat opened the application process for those wishing to provide retail services in the new market.
Scottish supplier Castle Water bought the business customer base of Portsmouth Water when the water-only company announced it would exit the market.
Castle Water subsequently applied for a water supply and sewerage licence, and has set its sights on English market expansion.
Fellow Scottish retailers Business Stream, Cobalt Water and Clear Business Water have also submitted applications, along with Thames Water Commercial Services, Northumbrian Water Business – which has rebranded as Wave, Pennon Water Services – a joint venture between South West Water and Bournemouth Water, and Severn Trent and United Utilities – which applied for a licence for their joint venture Water Plus.
Other suppliers, including new entrant Everflow, have told Utility Week they are considering buying into the English market when it opens, and Veolia UK has also said it wants to grow its retail activities in the UK water market.