The third quarter of 2017 saw the largest number of switches of water and wastewater supplier since the retail water market opened, according to data in the third CEO Quarterly Market Review published today by market operator MOSL.

The retail water market, which launched on 1 April 2017, allows eligible non-household customers in England to choose their water and wastewater supplier. 

The report breaks down, for the first time, the differences between the regions, with businesses in the south and south east of England having the highest levels of switching activity.

Source: MOSL , CEO Quarterly Market Review, 25.01.2018, MOSL

Today’s report by MOSL shows that over 30,000 switches took place between October and December 2017, taking the total number of switches since market opening to 91,960. It also shows there have been new entrants competing in the market.

Nine months on since full market opening on 1 April 2017 key highlights include:

• As of 31 December, there were 23 national retailers, 12 regional retailers, 2 self-supply retailers and 25 wholesalers in the market. Another retailer joined in the New Year.
• Switching has continued at a steady rate with 30,649 switches this quarter bringing the total switches to 91,960. This represents 3.5 per cent of the 2.7 million supply points in the market.
• New reporting capabilities, including geographic data sets showing the geographical spread of retailers actively switching supply points across wholesale areas and information around data quality.

Commenting on the report,  Ofwat Senior Director, Emma Kelso said:

“We have seen a steady increase in businesses switching water supplier or renegotiating with their existing provider since the market opened in April 2017.

“The third quarter figures are promising and we hope to see businesses continuing to take advantage of the opportunities they now have.

“We are now seeing more self-suppliers and national retailers entering the market, which is encouraging. This offers customers all over England more choice for their water supplier as retailers are not restricted to specific regions.”

Ofwat continues to monitor how market is developing

However, she added that Ofwat is continuing to monitor how the market is developing and is in the process of carrying out insight work with businesses across England to find out how the market is working for them. The review says the regulator is looking to create a means of monitoring contract renegotiations by customers, another equally important indicator of engagement in the market.

MOSL’s CEO, Chris Scoggins, said that market systems and processes are stabilising, describing stabilisation is critical in a context when MOSL will still be running processes for the first time well into the summer. MOSL has been looking at how digital innovation can reduce barriers to entry and further stabilise the market. MOSL’s Digital Strategy Committee is maintaining a watching brief on emergent technologies such as Blockchain as it relates to potential future technological developments. The market operator has also seen very low levels of disputes, with just one submitted over the quarter.

The third CEO Quarterly Market Review provides information on market activity and changes considered by the industry Code Panel as well as a forward look at MOSL’s plans as market operator. MOSL is owned jointly by all the water companies who trade in the competitive non-household retail water market in England.

Click here to download MOSL's CEO Quarterly Market Review Q3 2017/18