Apr/May-17 Edition
The Aqueduct
THE NEWSLETTER OF THE BRITISH OPEN WATER MARKET
The English Water Market Opens for Business
The market system for switching is working, multiple retailers are IN THIS ISSUE:
competing for business and meaningful savings are on offer. The range  Market Update
and regional variation of the savings can surprise.

Carry on Billing
Of the 25 Ofwat licensed water retailers, Grand Union has vetted 15. The
 Water Mergers
15 range from eager beavers on their front-foot (presuming beavers have
any kind of forward game...), a group taking four to six weeks to turn  Codes of Conduct
around tenders but nevertheless providing updates and great feedback.  The Water One-Pager
There is a group figuring out how to unclog their email inboxes and
line-management so they can properly play ball later this summer and then there are The Elusive Ones...
The Elusive Ones are sometimes a bit like Major Major Major in the James Heller’s Catch 22. He was
technically Squadron Commander, but put on a fake moustache and climbed out of the window when
anyone wanted to enter his office to discuss something. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LFujE3Y-ZI
Joking aside, opening the first multi wholesaler competitive water market on the planet was/is a tall order.
And look, an Ofwat license to supply retail water services is a not a promise to answer the phone or an email
or be all things to all TPIs/clients on a given day. A little patience is required. So far Aqueduct, Grand Union
and its customers have no complaints.
One of the most frustrating aspects of the first month of the market concerns LOAs (or Letters of Authority).
LOAs are usually drafted by an advisor and outline what said advisor can do, or not do for a client/
consumer. The best LOAs are three sentence letters allowing the advisor to seek past billing info and
competitive offers, while confirming the advisor absolutely cannot accept or terminate contracts on behalf of
the client. Ofwat issued two LOA linked notices that have caused consternation in the market. One was a
notice issued just as the market was opening that caused one retailer to request that all LOAs on all
business in their pipeline had to be reworded. The other concerned a direct release from Ofwat who chose to
issue their own recommended wording of the LOA used for micro-business (broadly SMEs of less than 10
staff). There is no doubt they issued this document with the intention of protecting smaller clients of the
market from the predatory and sharp practice of the large “Flash Harry” section of the energy advisor
community, who are infesting the water market like a virus, however they made a questionable judgement.
In their LOA they included two tick boxes that effectively turn the LOA into a Power of Attorney. All Flash
Harry has to do is tell the unsuspecting client to tick yes and he can sign the client up for a three year deal,
tripling his commission which is probably obfuscated or horrifically overstated
in any event. When Ofwat want to step outside the echo chamber in which they
sometimes do things, they will find many experienced and - critically - nonaligned people willing to help.
Grand Union
Water Co.
The market is working, tenders are turning around and the more proactive
use less water, and
retailers are hoovering up a tonne of business at the moment. It was never going
pay less for the
to be without challenge, but on balance the opening of the English water market water you do use...
has been a resounding success.
[email protected]
Aqueduct
The Aqueduct is written and distributed by Aqueduct Media for Grand Union Water Co. This document is the property of, and is proprietary to, Grand Union Water Co. and/or any
of its members, affiliates, and subsidiaries (collectively “Grand Union”) and is identified as “Confidential.” Those parties to whom it is distributed shall exercise the same degree
of custody and care afforded their own such information. Aqueduct Media and Grand Union makes no claims concerning the validity of the information provided herein and will
not be held liable for any use of this information. The information provided herein may be displayed and printed for your internal use only and may not reproduced, retransmitted, distributed, disseminated, sold, published, broadcast or circulated to anyone without the express written consent of Aqueduct Media and Grand Union Copyright © 2017
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Carry on Billing
Grand Union is 14 months into its Bill Validation
business. Starting out as an interesting potential add
on for clients who expected to be tendering when
the market opened, it has become an essential for
audit and tender clients and something contracted
out to other facilities and cost management
companies.
Water Company
Mergers: What Could
Possibly Go Wrong?
In energy we know what
h a p p e n e d
a f t e r
competition came in. The then
government’s energy Tsar, Nigel F’Tang BiscuitBarrel appointed Ooofy’s cousin, Twatty
Knobs-Fforster to Ofgem, who - with help from the
electricity generators themselves - shaped an
electricity market that was completely fair,
especially to the electricity companies.
The reason it has become so, is down to the quality
of billing in the market. It’s like one of those classic
cars advertised for sale on Ebay, looks okay at first
glance, on further inspection the engine and rear
seats are missing. Water billing in GB is mostly
The generators then rigged the wholesale market
lacking.
.
in plain sight of Ofgem, there were lots of mergers,
Now some exceptions feature; there are water many of the merged companies got sold off to
companies who would not think to send out a bill foreign owners, electricity company profits soared.
without everything they and the consumer could Electricity intensive industries such as
ever need to settle accounts or check when aluminium and steel all but disappeared
problems occur, such as SPID, meter number, destroying jobs and communities.
invoice number, account number volume, rate, issue
date, due date, the water type concerned etc. But Instead of obligating generators to use their profits
examples of such billing are rare. At its worst, bills to build replacement power stations, all the profits
have just three things: The wrong postcode, An were paid away in fat-cat salaries or exported
amount to settle future supply of water services (ie overseas leaving taxpayer no choice but to give
negative payment terms), and of course a correct £92.50 per MWh for 30 years to the Chinese and
the French to keep the lights on.
payment reference.
On many occasions when our BV team get thru to a
billing Helpline, reading the correct postcode or
name of the client to a water company does not
always pull up any account and circa 50% of
promised call-backs do not happen
Still, it wasn’t all bad news, Nigel F’Tang BiscuitBarrel was elevated to the Lords and now sits on
the board Ausländer Energi, while Ooofy’s cousin,
Twatty Knobs-Fforster OBE, CBE was knighted
and put in charge of regulating the banking sector.
To add insult to injury, there are billing help lines Thank goodness nothing like that will happen in
where one is held in a queue only to be answered by water in the coming decade!
a third-party answering service who will take a Aqueduct
message and pass it on. Or maybe not.
It is not clear how all this complies with licence obligations but it
is widespread.
Grand Union has a resourced Billing Validation team singly
focussed on getting bill history and chasing down errors and
reclaims and there is the odd shortcut to the right person at some
water companies. But for consumers who are trying themselves
to get bill copies or question an historic charge, get used to 45
minutes hold music and being told your call is important.
Busy water retailers
taking six weeks to
shape an offer is not
the main bottleneck of
the water market, this
situation will resolve,
billing matters are...
Aqueduct
EXPERT WITNESS
SERVICES
Experienced Litigation Support
Water Electricity Gas and Coal
Trial & Arbitration Experience
[email protected]
Water Procurement
Advisor: Code of
Conduct
Ofwat Voluntary TPI
Codes of Conduct Code (30/03/17)
Ofgem chose not to regulate energy
advisors. That gave rise to poor and
sharp practice and consumers paid
the price of having “Flash Harry” in
their market. Ofwat will not be
regulating the water advisory space and as such the
stage is set for similar behaviour coming into the
water space. Between Oct-16 thru Feb-17 and with
help from working Peer Lord Mackenzie of
Framwellgate OBE, a deliberately simple
voluntary Code of Conduct that any water
procurement advisor (or energy procurement
advisor choosing to work also in water) can sign
up and adhere to. Unlike certain other Code of
Conduct there is no need for Advisors to give
money to supposed trade associations to prove
they have good ethics...
“The central, simple idea of the Code is that
Advisors can be held to task by their clients if they
fail to comply with the Code. Otherwise consumers
can simply avoid Advisors who are unable or
unwilling to meet the Code’s six points”
1. No cold calls. An introductory letter must
precede telephone calls from advisors.
2. Advisors must have
relevant training and
qualification in client representation such as
FCA, EMA or ISO accreditation or a minimum
of three year’s experience of client procurement
confirmed by a minimum of three business
references.
3. Advisors must be able to represent they have
run a tender where suppliers have competed
for the opportunity to supply
4. Advisors must be able to represent a supplier’s
offer in a form that estimates the consumer’s
annual budget on an agreed usage
5. Advisors must be open and transparent on
ALL fees, commissions, supplier rebates,
margin shares etc. and able to estimate
annual total commissions per a scenario
agreed with the consumer
6. Notwithstanding where NDA applies, Advisors
agree to provide - on demand - all
communication relating to a tender process such
that it can be checked by the client with suppliers
Any and all advisors and consultants will have free
access to use the Code logo, no fees will be
charged or additional barriers to use put in place.
No list of Code adoptees is planned.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/WPACoC/
1. TPIs shall be fair, transparent and honest.
2. Communication with customers (business,
charity and public sector) shall be in plain and
clear language.
3. All information provided to customers by a TPI
shall be reliable, accurate, complete, timely and
not misleading. Such information shall be made
through appropriate channels and enable
customers to make informed choices.
4. TPIs shall not offer products that are
unnecessarily complex or confusing.
5. TPIs shall not sell a customer a product or
service that is not fully understood by that
customer, nor sell a product or service that is
inappropriate for that customer’s needs and
circumstances.
6. TPIs shall not exaggerate the savings that could
be achieved by switching, but shall be as
accurate as possible.
7. TPIs shall inform any micro-business
customers that they have a 14 day cooling off
period.
8. TPIs shall cancel any mis-sold contract without
penalties.
9. TPIs shall respond to customers in an
appropriate and timely manner.
10. Customer service arrangements and processes
shall be accessible to and effective for
customers.
Grand Union Water Co. is proud to comply
with WPA and Ofwat Codes and is signatory to
all the available water retailer
agreements and codes in the market
GRAND UNION WATER CO:
THE WATER ONE-PAGER
WHO
Grand Union Water Co is a “Water Merchant & Conservator” and deals exclusively in water matters where it is a
specialist. Managing Director Peter Sceats is Authorised and Regulated by the FINANCIAL CONDUCT
AUTHORITY under Controlled Function 'CS30 Customer' Ref # PXS01521. Peter worked on the UK Government’s
Water White Paper in 2010/11 which is the basis of the new market. Grand Union Water Co. # 10325898 operates in an
ethical and regulated manner with crystal clear fees and documentation. Grand Union Water Co. adheres to the Ofgem
Voluntary Code of Conduct for TPIs and Water Procurement Advisor Code of Conduct.
WHAT
The UK Water Act 2014 established a market that will allow millions of businesses and charities across Great Britain
to choose their supplier of water & waste-water retail services.
Grand Union Water Co. offer a simple THREE STEP APPROACH to reducing water costs:
Step #1 Water Bill Validation
Step #2 Water Audit
Step #3 Competitive Procurement
: To identify specifics of site water use and reclaim water company overcharge
: To identify consumption reduction opportunity with clear recommendations
based on retrofit return on investment (ROI)
: To encourage ALL water retailers to compete for our client’s business and
identify the best supplier in an ethical manner providing audit trail justifying
recommendation.
WHEN
Bill Validation and Water Audit steps ideally take place before the procurement step, but it does not have to be like
that. Some companies have a trusted procurement agency and that’s fine. Grand Union Water Co. Bill Validation and
or Water Audit can be complimentary to third party procurement.
WHERE
The UK competitive water market actually started in Scotland and the change to the water market in England is largely
an extension of the pioneering Scottish pilot phase. In Wales only consumers with a usage of 50,000 M3 a year can
switch supplier. The new market will not extend to Northern Ireland. Grand Union Water Co. is registered at 26 York
Street London W1.
WHY
Business users have opportunity to reclaim billing overcharge, reduce consumption, reduce the cost of water & wastewater services, trade effluent, surface water charges and have consolidated billing (one bill for multi- site consumers).
HOW MUCH
In the first phase of the Scottish market, consumers made annual savings of anywhere between 2.5% and 12.5%.
Currently, sites in Scotland that have not previously switched can save up 25%. With the English market fully open and
more than a dozen water retailers competing for consumer business, savings opportunity abounds. While the scale of
savings in England are not on the same level as Scotland, they can be substantial and vary greatly by region. But
savings from procurement side and switching supplier are only a third of the picture. Rebates forthcoming from Bill
Validation processes and consumption reduction driven by Water Audit can significantly amplify overall savings.
Grand Union Water Co. levies fees that are simple, crystal clear and based on:
· Share of Savings and no upfront fees, or
· An annual retainer, capped fee per tender
· A combination of above (whatever works best for the client and is mutually agreeable)
Our tenders are distributed to ALL licensed water & waste water retailers in our pre-vetted supplier panel. We do not
have any sweetheart deals or kick-back arrangement with any water retailer. We never will. Grand Union Water Co. is
co-founder of the Water Procurement Advisor Code of Conduct and the Ofwat Water TPI Code. Before engaging any
water advisor (or energy advisor claiming to cover water) make sure they comply to both Codes.
For clients who prefer to undertake procurement processes in-house, we also provide confidential support in this
respect. Beyond the agreed fee or share of savings, there are no hidden commissions, no other tender costs or
unnecessary complexity or any of that dodgy nonsense you see in the energy space.
WHAT ELSE
Common Sense, logic, a sense of humour and the idea that the client always comes first are provided free of charge.