Ofwat has today announced that it is revoking the Water Supply and Sewerage Licences (WSSL) of Olympos Water Ltd - the revocation will come into effect on Friday 13 December 2024.

Olympos Water has held its WSSL Licences since 13 June 2019 - the Licences are subject to the Standard Licence Conditions issued by the Secretary of State under section 17BA of the Water Industry Act 1991.

Ofwat is revoking Olympos Water's Licences on the grounds that there has been or is likely to be a contravention of a principal duty, where a principal duty is defined as any condition of the licensee's Licence or any statutory requirement imposed on it in consequence of its Licence.

Standard Licence Condition A(4) requires licensees to submit a prescribed certificate to Ofwat certifying that they have in place all the arrangements and resources needed to meet their Licence and statutory obligations over the next financial year. There is also a requirement under SLC A(4) for licensees to provide signed and dated Board minutes to confirm that the Board have signed off on the submission of the certificate. It also requires that the prescribed certificate and supporting documents are submitted by no later than 1 April each year.

Ofwat said Olympos Water has failed to comply with SLC A(4) since 2021 and that its submissions have repeatedly been incomplete, incorrect and late.

In 2023 Ofwat issued a consultation on a proposed enforcement order to secure Olympos Water's compliance with SLC A(4) - during the consultation period Olympos Water brought itself into compliance with the licence requirements.

However, despite the proposed enforcement order in 2023 Olympos Water continued to breach SLC A(4) in 2024 by failing to provide the prescribed certificate and supporting documents until 22 April 2024.

The prescribed certificate and supporting documents provides assurance to Ofwat that the licensee is and continues to be able to meet its statutory and Licence obligations, and that it has sufficient product and liability insurance for its authorised activities.

Ofwat commented:

"While we recognise that Olympos Water does not, and has never, served any customers under its Licence, this does not exempt it from submitting the prescribed certificate and supporting documents within the timeframe stipulated in its Licence. "

In relation to its licence fees for the year beginning 1 April 2022, 1 April 2023, and 1 April 2024 Olympos Water has also failed to pay its licence fees within thirty days of notice being served.

On 22 August 2023, following months of attempting to contact Olympos Water, Ofwat issued a notice of demand for payment of outstanding licence fees to Olympos Water. Failure to comply with the notice would result in potential enforcement action including licence revocation. Olympos Water brought itself into compliance on 8 September 2023, when it paid the licence fees for the year beginning 1 April 2022.

However, despite receiving a formal notice for payment of licence fees in 2023, Olympos Water failed to pay its licence fees for the financial years beginning on 1 April 2023 and 1 April 2024.

On 21 March 2024, Ofwat's finance team issued the invoice for licence fees for the year beginning 1 Apil 2023. Five further notices of overdue payment were issued to Olympos Water between May September 2024 but Olympos Water has not acknowledged Ofwat's correspondence, nor has it paid its licence fee. In addition, Ofwat's finance team raised invoices for licence fees on 31 July 2024 for the financial year beginning 1 April 2024. Olympos Water's payment of these licence fees are also now overdue representing a further breach.

Ofwat has explained that it has decided to revoke Olympos Water's WSSL Licences on the grounds of these repeated breaches, commenting:

"Olympos Water's repeated breach of both SLC A9 and SLC A4 are such that Ofwat does not believe it is appropriate for Olympos Water to continue to hold its Licences."

Synopsis of business plan "ambition to create a multi-utility provider"

Olympos Water first applied to Ofwat for the licences in July 2018 – the regulator subsequently granted WSSL licences to the company in June 2019.

The synopsis of Olympos Water's business plan set out in Ofwat's initial announcement in July 2018 seeking comments on the company's application stated:

"Olympos Water Limited's ambition is to create a multi-utility provider that will occupy a gap in the current market, offering commercial developers an integrated network design to retail supply service. Olympos Water Limited, represents the first step towards this vision with the addition of gas, electricity and telecom retail services following within a 3-5 year period."

Olympos Water Ltd. was first registered with Companies House in February 2018, alongside a number of other companies which were subsequently dissolved in 2022. Olympos Water Ltd. is currently still listed as active – however, accounts filed for the company with Companies House in August 2024 made up to 31 December 2023 and in August 2023 made up to 31 December 2022 are described as "Accounts for a dormant company."