Tor Water has, at last, been granted its water supply and sewerage licence, and revealed plans to expand to other areas in the UK.
Director Jiro Wilson told Utility Week’s sister title Water.Retail the company is “literally over the moon” about being granted its licence.
“We are waiting on MOSL to complete their side of things like access to CMOS but otherwise we are ready to put this boat in the water,” he added. “Our ethos is to deliver the pinnacle of good service and compete at an aggressive price point in relation to our competitive landscape.
“To start with we are targeting the South West, it’s our own turf and where we are most comfortable. In time we will grow and cover other areas across the UK.”
Tor first applied for its licence, which would allow it to provide retail services to customers in the non-domestic water market, in April 2017. It said it sought to provide an “unsurpassed level of customer service at a competitive price to the consumer” to customers in the South West of England.
In January this year, Wilson announced Tor had received a “no objections” notification from Ofwat, pending adequate finances.
However, he said the firm had spent a “fair bit” of the runway launch capital on “keeping the business ticking over while we waited on Ofwat”.
He said the company’s investment needs are “best described as modest” and emphasised that it is seeking an investor who is “aware of the nature of the trading environment in the South West of England”.
The newest entrants, as well as Tor Water, are Utility Bidder, Smarta Water, Aquaflow and First Business Water.