Nine out of ten businesses in the west are satisfied with the service they receive from their water company and are unlikely to switch supplier when water market reforms are introduced this year, a survey has revealed.
Wessex Water came out on top with 93% customer satisfaction compared to a national average of around three quarters (76%) of customers satisfied with their overall service.
The independent survey, conducted on behalf of water regulator Ofwat, was taken by 1,000 businesses of various sizes across England and showed that around a third were aware that they would be able to switch to a different water retailer, much like they would with an energy company, from April 2017.
The water retailer that will be taking care of businesses in the west, welcomed the findings of this latest survey.
Managing director of water2business, Charley Maher, said:
“While this is a major change for business customers as they will be able to choose their water retailer, results from this survey show that actually in the Wessex Water region the vast majority of businesses are satisfied with the overall service provided and are unlikely to switch.”
“This provides confidence for both existing customers and new customers throughout England and Scotland looking to switch to water2business from April once the market opens.”
“Businesses will be reassured to not only know that this high standard of service will continue when they automatically switch to water2business, but will also be further enhanced with the launch of our new online customer portal. Importantly, they could also benefit from water and wastewater efficiency advice and flexible, consolidated billing for multiple sites – some of the added value services we offer.”
Wessex Water and Bristol Water set up water2business so its business customers could continue to be served locally once retail competition was introduced by the government and Ofwat.
The survey revealed that large organisations were significantly more aware of the water industry reforms than small or medium-sized enterprises, with 79% of them confirming they had previously heard about them.
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