Excellent 5* RatingWhat was the industry like before deregulation?
Before deregulation, your water supplier was decided by your postcode. Wherever your business was based, that was the company you used, and there was no way to shop around.
With no competition, there was little reason for a supplier to keep prices keen or service sharp. You took what you were given, at the price you were given.
It was hardest on businesses with more than one site, who often juggled several regional suppliers at once. That meant duplicated admin, separate bills and a lot of avoidable hassle.
What changed under deregulation?
Deregulation split the market in two. The regional water companies kept the wholesale side, sourcing, treating and delivering the water through the same pipes as before. A new layer of water retailers took over everything you actually deal with: billing, account management and support.
The big shift for you is choice. You can pick your retailer, negotiate a contract and move elsewhere if the service slips. If you run more than one site, you can also pull them all onto one retailer and a single consolidated bill.
Retailers started competing on more than price too, adding things like efficiency advice and quicker support to win your business.
How the deregulated market works now
It helps to picture two layers. The wholesaler is your regional water company. It owns the pipes, treats the water and runs the physical network, and it stays the same whoever you buy from. The retailer is the company you choose, who buys from the wholesaler and looks after your account.
When you switch supplier, you are changing retailer, not wholesaler. The water reaching your taps does not change at all.
The market is overseen by the regulator, Ofwat, with a central system run by MOSL that records every switch in the background. If something goes wrong, the Consumer Council for Water is there to help. Scotland runs a similar but older system, regulated separately and open since 2008.
Who can switch, and who cannot
If your premises are in England or Scotland and used for business rather than as a home, you can almost certainly switch. That covers companies, charities, schools and public sector sites of any size.
Households cannot switch. Homes still sit with their regional water company on regulated prices, which is the main reason business and home water work so differently. Most businesses in Wales cannot switch either, as the market there has not fully opened.
The rules and charges differ slightly north of the border, and we cover those on our business water in Scotland page.
What actually goes into your bill
Deregulation gave you choice over the retailer, but your bill is still built from several parts. The biggest is the wholesale charge set by your regional water company, which is why your location still affects the price even in a competitive market.
On top of that sit your wastewater and sewerage charges, surface water drainage, highway drainage, meter standing charges and, for some sites, trade effluent. The retailer then adds its own margin, and that margin is the part competition drives down.
It pays to know exactly what you are being charged for. Our guide to what makes up your business water charges breaks every line down, and you can see current pricing on our business water rates page.
So how does deregulation affect you?
In short, you have far more control over what you pay. With retailers competing for your business, no single supplier sets the price any more. If your organisation has not reviewed its contract since the market opened, there is a real chance you have drifted onto a deemed rate, one of the most expensive ways to buy water.
It is not only about cost. Retailers compete on service too, with clearer billing and contracts shaped around how your business actually uses water. Heavy users and complex sites can get extra value from a specialist retailer through efficiency advice and usage monitoring.
The catch is that more choice makes the decision harder. That is where a broker earns its keep, doing the comparing for you. If you have been thinking about it, you can compare business water suppliers or switch your supplier with us, and there has never been a better time to look.
