Foodservice Footprint Screen-Shot-2016-06-16-at-10.26.29 Greene King leads charge to supply own water Foodservice News and Information Out of Home sector news  Waterscan OFWAT news-email Greene King

Greene King leads charge to supply own water

Greene King is aiming to drive efficiencies in water usage after applying to become the first non-domestic customer to provide its own water retail services.

Regulator Ofwat confirmed this week that the brewer, which operates around 3,000 pubs, restaurants and hotels across the UK, has applied for a water supply licence and sewerage licence, with a self-supply authorisation, which effectively allows the company to supply water to its own sites.

From April 2017 businesses, charities and public sector customers will have the opportunity to take more control over their water use as part of the government’s desire to open up the UK’s water retail market.

As a self-supply licensee Greene King will be able to pay wholesale prices for its water and supply water services to multiple sites for its business. More businesses are expected to follow suit as awareness of the new self-supply licence grows.

Consultancy Waterscan will take on the role and responsibilities for Greene King’s water retail functions including meter reading, central market operating system transactions, wholesaler management, paying water and sewerage charges through the settlement process, and finding further water efficiency savings.

Greene King, which has already taken its energy retail services in-house, said that becoming a self-supply licence holder would enable it to build on efficiency works already undertaken, whilst driving cost and consumption control in the next phase of its water management strategy.