News
39% Of SMEs ‘Unlikely’ To Switch Water Supplier
One of the quickest ways that you as a business can claw back a bit of cash if this is a top concern at the moment is to switch water supplier – and the good news is that, unlike families, companies can indeed decide which supplier they want to use.
Analysis by Water.Retail has shown that 43 per cent of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are aware that they can choose their water retailer, but 39 per cent who said they were unlikely to make the move or negotiate for a better deal felt they simply didn’t use enough water to save any money, Utility Week reports.
That said, in the coming six months 52 per cent of such businesses did say they were likely to try and find out more about what choices they have as an organisation in this regard. But 22 per cent said they didn’t see the need to switch suppliers because they were happy with their deal – implying that they do not know what benefits there are to it beyond discounts on their bills.
It’s certainly not just about saving cash, although no doubt this is a big motivator for many companies out there. With a choice of suppliers, you can benefit from tailored service offerings, better standards of service, advice on how to save water and, yes, lower prices.
One issue that might inspire you to switch companies is billing errors, which a recent Water.Retail snap survey found to be the biggest area of concern to market players. Of those asked, 75 per cent admitted that this is the most important service that retailers offer to customers and 33 per cent said errors were their biggest worry.
In April this year, the new competitive water retail market opened for business, meaning that 1.2 million businesses, charities and public sector bodies throughout England no longer face restrictions on buying water services from their regional monopoly. As Ofwat notes, this means they can shop around to find the best deal for them – if they’re not happy with the service, they can take their business somewhere else.
The market will operate in much the same way as other open utility markets like electricity, gas and telecoms. Retailer suppliers are able to buy wholesale services (such as the removal of wastewater or the physical supply of the resource) and offer packages to sell to customers.
Regional water companies will carry on serving household and non-eligible customers, with the market working alongside the existing one in Scotland (regulated by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland).
In Wales, non-household customers making use of a supply system from a water company wholly or mainly in Wales won’t be able to choose supplier and will have to continue receiving services from their current company.