David Lloyd Leisure Ltd has applied to water sector regulator Ofwat for a self-supply retail water and sewerage licence.

Europe’s leading health, sport and leisure group has 123 clubs - 100 clubs in the UK with a further 23 across the Republic of Ireland and mainland Europe.

David Lloyd have around 660,000 members and currently employ over 8,000 people. Facilities include gyms, heated indoor and outdoor pools, group exercise studios and spas.

The application for self-supply document says the licence will form an integral part of the Group’s continuing work to manage water resources efficiently and innovatively, feeding into their future sustainability goals and objectives. The application says:

“They consider a WSSL restricted to self-supply will also provide a platform for them to be more vocal within the market.

“David Lloyd believes that having a self-supply licence will give them a chance to take more control of their water use and effluent discharge, dealing directly with the wholesalers and to build on the success of their water programs.”

The leisure group has entered into a partnership agreement with Waterscan to take on the role and responsibilities for the retail functions including meter reading, CMOS transactions, wholesaler management and finding further water efficiency savings.

Waterscan will act as the managing agent for David Lloyd Leisure and provide technical support and services while the business will build on their key relationships with wholesalers and pay water and sewerage charges through the settlement process.

The partnership will take the form of a contractual agreement between the parties and will be submitted as part of the licence process.

Deadline to make representations or objections with respect to the application and Ofwat’s proposal to modify the standard licence conditions is 22 September 2020.

Click here to read the application document