ESP Utilities Group, one of the UK’s largest and longest established owner of gas and electricity networks, has turned to South East Water to support its latest business venture.

The newly licensed ESP Water has appointed the water company as its billing agent in a five year contract.

South East Water will be sending ESP Water branded bills to its customers across the country - the billing service will be for drinking water and waste water, depending on the services each customer receives.            

ESP Water will operate across England and Wales under the New Appointment and Variation (NAV) regime within the Ofwat Regulations, which allows new suppliers to enter the market. ESP Water provides domestic and commercial consumers with water and wastewater services with its focus on new housing developments, including those in the south east.

The new venture enables its parent company ESP Utilities Group to provide a full multi-utility adoption offering to its construction customers.

South East Water, which provides drinking water to 2.2 million customers in parts of Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire, already has well established joint billing operations with Southern Water, Thames Water, Severn Trent Connect and Icosa Water Services.

Tanya Sephton, Customer Services Director at South East Water, said:

“We’re really excited to be working with ESP Water as it enters into the water market.

“This gives us a great opportunity to extend our commercial operations outside of the south east by supporting ESP Water with our experience of third party billing operations.

“We are also keen to expand this side of our business and offer similar services to other water and sewerage operators which will benefit from our expertise and experience.”

Steve Morris, Managing Director, ESP Water, commented:

“Having a multi-utility proposition that includes water and wastewater, to complement our existing gas and electricity offerings, supports ESP’s future growth ambitions.

“As the market matures, and the benefits of a NAV become ever more evident to developers, our expectation is that a multi-utility proposition will become the norm.

“We are delighted to be working with South East Water’s exceptional team of experienced staff and benefiting from its first class billing solution. This will enable us to offer our customers a high quality of service as we continue to grow our water business.”