Open Water, the organisation set up to open the competitive market for non-household retail services in April 2017, has started the procurement process for the central IT system needed to underpin the market operation mechanism.
Open Water has been working with market participants, Defra, Ofwat and other stakeholders to open the competitive market for non-household water and sewerage retail services in April 2017.
From that date, all business customers and public sector, charitable and not-for-profit organisations in England will be able to choose their water and sewerage supplier – however big or small the business and wherever it is located.
A key requirement to facilitate the process is the procurement of the necessary IT infrastructure that will underpin the Market Operator’s settlement and registration activities.
To support the procurement of the required IT infrastructure, Market Operator Services Limited (MOSL) has been set up to run and manage the procurement of a central IT system on behalf of the MO.
MOSL, a private company set in October last year up with Peter Simpson, MD of Anglian Water, Heidi Mottram MD of Northumbrian Water and Steve Mogford, MD of United Utilities as named directors, will procure the central IT systems on the basis of the OWML specification.
The procurement process for the system has now begun and Open Water will be engaging with potential suppliers in the near future.
Organisations that want to be considered for the provision of the central IT system or seeking further information should contact Open Water at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
It is currently envisaged that a contract will be entered into in August 2015 – deadline for expressions of interest through the above channel is 11 March.
Open Water said that any organisations that have already been in contact to express an interest do not need to contact them again.
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