The market allows business customers that use large amounts of water to choose their retail service supplier and their water supply service provider.

If you are a business water customer who uses more than 5,000m³ of water per year at a single premises, you may be eligible to choose your supplier.

If you are licensed by Ofwat to supply this market, this page provides the following information via the downloads at the bottom of the page

• As a basis for negotiation, draft non price terms of access to supply water to Thames Water’s network (Wholesale Supply Agreement)
• Details of indicative prices for retail and supply access to Thames Water’s network and a common contract for retail access (Access Code)
• Details of how will we take forward any application you make and the service you can expect from us on receipt of your application (Access Code)
• Details of how we will protect and ringfence any commercial information you send to us (Condition R Compliance Code and draft confidentiality agreement)
• Application forms for specific types of access

In preparation for forthcoming Government legislation to expand and reform the existing business retail market, Ofwat, the economic regulator for the industry, plans to introduce transitory regulatory safeguards to help protect customers from the risk that suppliers could take advantage of a temporary window of market power (prior to effective competition developing) by reducing service quality and/or increasing prices.

Ofwat and Thames Water (with support from Economic Insight) agreed to jointly take forward work to help identify the key issues associated with designing and implementing such safeguards. The key objective of this work was to help identify and evaluate a range of approaches to setting safeguards, such that a short-list of potential options can be considered. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure that any approach works well for Ofwat, the industry and business customers. More information can be found in the document below:

• Regulatory Safeguards in deregulated markets (0.75Mb) 

If you wish to contact us for further information contact details are provided below

Markets Team
Thames Water
Clearwater Court
Vastern Road
Reading
Berkshire
RG1 8DB

Email: competition@thameswater.co.uk