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4th April 2025 12:25 - Utilities

Over a third of large businesses in England are unaware of their water retailer: A survey by Consumer Council for Water (CCW) has revealed that 34% of businesses in England with over 250 staff, are unaware of who their water retailer is. Similarly, 33% of small businesses with 10 or fewer employees are unaware of their retailer. However, English businesses have become more aware of what the water retail market is, with 57% of businesses being aware in 2024 - compared to 43% in 2018.

The information is sourced from CCW’s 2024 Testing the Waters report, which was compiled following 2,000 interviews with businesses, charities, and public sector organisations across England and Wales. Conducted by DJS Research between March and July 2024, the interviews explored topics such as satisfaction and dissatisfaction, the water retail market, customer care, water saving, and more. DJS Research compiled the final report.

Overall satisfaction levels remained unchanged from 2022, with 89% of businesses in England and Wales satisfied with their water services and 83% satisfied with their sewerage services. Satisfaction with retail services was lower at 67%, reflecting a slight decrease from 2022 (70% satisfied). Interestingly, businesses in Wales reported higher satisfaction across all three service categories than those in England.

The top three reasons for businesses being dissatisfied were: poor water quality (water), problems with blockages (sewerage), and inaccurate bills (retail).

A disappointing finding from the research is that only 43% of businesses across England and Wales engage in water-saving activities - just a 4% increase from 2022. This means that 57% of businesses are unable to identify any measures they have taken to reduce their water consumption. The data indicates that larger businesses are more likely to implement water-saving initiatives than smaller ones, with 51% of businesses with 250+ employees engaging in some water-saving activity, compared with 42% of those with 10 or fewer employees.

Positively, over a third (35%) of businesses involved in the research said they would be interested in a service offering water-saving advice – again, the bigger the organisation, the keener they were on this service being offered.

Read the full Testing the Waters 2024 report, created by DJS Research, here: Testing the Waters 2024

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