A total of 8,876 business premises have switched water retailers in the first week of the market opening.
England opened the world’s biggest retail water market on April 1st, which means more than 1.2 million eligible businesses, charities and public sector organisations can choose who they pay for their water and wastewater services.
The figure was released by MOSL last week, which operates the market and ensures it runs efficiently and effectively on behalf of the water companies.
It states in addition to those that have chosen to switch water retailers, many more businesses have contacted their existing water retailers to discuss the services they receive and negotiate a better deal.
Ofwat CEO Cathryn Ross said: “This is a really encouraging start – less than a week in and already we are seeing thousands of customers diving into the new water market. From multi-nationals to microbusinesses, customers are finding the deals that are right for them and they have the confidence to enter the market knowing there is strong oversight and effective protections in place.”
Last month ELN spoke to regulator Ofwat about the deregulation of the water market.
