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Market changes
Find out more about changes for our business customers.

Changes for our business customers

Open Water

On 1 April 2017, a new commercial retail market was introduced to increase competition in the water industry.  This means that business customers can now choose their water and waste water Retailer.  It works in a similar way to other utility markets, such as gas, electricity and telecoms.  Wholesalers provide water and waste water services to Retailers, who in turn sell these services to business customers.  Retail services include account management, billing, call centre activities and any other value added services such as water efficiency.

The new market is different in England and Wales.

In England, all business customers served by water companies based wholly or mainly in England have been able to switch Retailer for water and waste water services since 1 April 2017. In Wales things are a bit different. The Welsh Government decided not to expand the market to all business customers who are served by water companies based wholly or mainly in Wales.  This means that only customer sites using more than 50 megalitres of water a year can switch retailer, and only for their clean water services. More information on retailers can be found on the Open Water website.

Do I have a choice?

  • Business customers eligible for the market may decide not to switch retailer and will continue to receive retail services from Hafren Dyfrdwy’s business team.
  • Business customer sites that do not exceed the 50 meglitre threshold cannot switch retailer and will continue to receive retail services from Hafren Dyfrdwy’s business team.

If you want to know more about the market, switching, eligibility criteria or just want some general advice please visit the Open Water website.

Important information for retailers to know.