Water Procurement and Management

In April 2017, the UK’s commercial and non-domestic water market was deregulated. This meant that it became possible to shop around and switch to a different water supplier. The move introduced competition to the market, helping to bring down prices and improve service while enabling businesses to go with the supplier which best meets their needs.

Working directly with suppliers is time-consuming. Plus, if you don’t know all the subtleties of water contract terms and market conditions, you may end up paying more for your water, not less. If necessary, our experts can compare as many as 18 retailers to find you the best deal. That means your team can focus on your core business while our energy managers watch over your water.

World Kinect offers a comprehensive range of services related to water for businesses. As well as finding, comparing and negotiating cheaper water tariffs on your behalf, we can also carry out audits on your bills and usage. Our bill auditing service can enable us to win back refunds for errors on your historic bills – a common occurrence. We can also validate your future bills to help make sure you only ever pay what you should. Our wider audits can help identify any leaks as well as reduce your everyday water consumption overall, leading to even lower bills.

We can also save you time and hassle by resolving any billing queries for you, and by carrying out the switch from your current supplier to a new one. Our water specialists are on hand to offer up-to-date advice and support, helping make sure your water and wastewater always remain affordable, reliable and future-proof.

By combining access to billing data and online surveys, we’ve been able to find significant savings and rebates for customers who told us exactly this. Even if you’re 100% water efficient, you may still find incorrect charges on past bills. We’ll find those errors and redeem the savings directly to you.

Water prices are reviewed every year and decrease only very rarely, usually increasing instead. This year, in 2024, the increase was larger than usual, reaching up to 15%. Water bills are going up because of several factors, including high interest rates, which make it more expensive for water companies to operate. Penalties incurred by wholesalers are also pushing prices up. These penalties are incurred when a wholesaler's performance deviates from what is expected by OFWAT (examples of this include Thames Water being fined for dumping sewerage). Not surprisingly, this extra cost is passed on to the end user. Environmental challenges have an impact on the cost of water, too. Water scarcity concerns mean we require more water to be left in the environment, increasing the cost of capturing, treating and supplying water to customers. Water companies are passing these higher operational costs to their customers, in the form of significantly higher water bills. On top of this, Ofwat has recalculated its default price cap, increasing the water retail rates paid by businesses.

Although it’s hard to say for certain, the contracts our brokers can arrange for you will typically deliver a saving on bills of around 3-9% compared to your current water contract. That’s potentially a very significant saving in its own right, but the biggest savings of all are likely to result from a combination of our detailed water audit and our expertise in reducing your future water consumption. Lowering your water consumption can help play a part in making your business more sustainable overall, by reducing its use of a precious natural resource and thereby minimising its impact on the environment. In turn, this could help you reap the indirect financial rewards of improving the image and reputation of your brand.

Energy is another important concern, but our clients have used the savings they’ve achieved through water audits to offset rising energy prices. Our comprehensive water management service is always available and could help save you money in different ways.

Using a Water Management Service could be a great idea if your business:

Uses water or steam in the manufacturing process:

• Breweries
• Beverage manufacturing
• Food production
• Steel or metals production
• Dairy
• Agriculture

Serves consumers across multiple locations with bathroom and leisure facilities:

• Hospitality and leisure
• Restaurants
• Hotels
• Healthcare sectors
• Residential care homes
• Hospitals

Right now, about 1.5 million businesses across the UK are eligible to choose the commercial water supplier that can best deliver their water and wastewater services. In the England and Scotland that includes all businesses, charities and public organisations. In Wales, that includes only businesses, charities and public organisations that consume 50m+ litres per annum.