Retail giant John Lewis Partnership has applied to Ofwat for a water supply and sewerage licences, with a retail authorisation limited to self-supply.

The Partnership is the parent company of John Lewis and for John Lewis and Partners, a department store chain with 51 sites, and Waitrose and Partners, a supermarket chain with 349 stores.

John Lewis, the applicant for the WSSL, is the UK’s largest employee owned business. In 2018, both John Lewis and Waitrose underwent a rebrand, becoming John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners.

John Lewis’ business strategy says it is based on ‘Partner, Customer, Profit and Power,’ with a focus on innovation, looking at future scenarios and identifying new opportunities. Its corporate responsibility strategy is underpinned by key commitments on sourcing and selling products with integrity,

The company says it has achieved a reduction in carbon intensity of 70% against a 2010 baseline, and that it has set numerous targets around waste, packaging, recycling/reuse and emissions reduction.

Water efficiency is becoming a key focus in its strategy to 2028, and it is aligning its targets against the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the UK’s 2050 emissions targets.

The licence application says:

“John Lewis consider that self-supply is a further innovation that will allow it to drive a change in process, influencing its water strategy and targets, as well as offering it a customer voice in the market. It will also give it the opportunity to take more control over water usage and data, deal directly with wholesalers and improve its water strategy.”

If the WSSL is granted it will enable John Lewis to provide retail services to sites of John Lewis and Partners and sites of Waitrose & Partners, which qualify as associate companies.

In order to facilitate its application, John Lewis proposes entering into a partnership with Waterscan who will act as the managing agent for John Lewis, providing technical support and services whilst John Lewis builds relationships with wholesalers.The partnership will take the form of a contractual agreement between the parties. Ofwat said it understands this will be in place prior to the WSSL being granted.

Waterscan will take on the role and responsibilities for the retail functions including meter reading, wholesaler management and finding further water efficiency savings. Waterscan will also complete all transactions on the Central Market Operating System (CMOS) operated by MOSL and pay water and sewerage charges through the settlement process run by MOSL.

Deadline to submit representations or objections to Ofwat is 25 September 2019.