Peel Water targets large customers in retail market

Peel Water has revealed its plans to become a retailer in the non-domestic water market with the ambition of “opportunistically” acquiring large customers.

Peel Water applied to Ofwat for a water supply and sewerage licence on Monday. The granting of a licence would allow it to participate in the competitive water retail market when it opens in April.

A document published in error by the regulator at the beginning of the week stated that the company had applied for a self-supply licence, which would have allowed Peel to supply its own water retail services only.

The correct document has now been published and, to date, no company in England has applied to self-supply.

Peel said its plan is to extend the services it currently provides to its existing customer base of large water users within the Peel Group.

Over the next three years, the aim of the firm is to carry on “opportunistically” acquiring large customers from within the Peel Group and select third-party partners.

Peel Group is a UK infrastructure, transport and real estate investor, with collective investments owned and under management of more than £5 billion.

Within the group, Peel Utilities provides water, electricity and energy services to homes and businesses across a portfolio of mixed-use developments as well as retail and business parks.

Peel Utilities has a regulated water supply business at MediaCityUK in Manchester, which supplies water to developments including the Trafford Centre, Robin Hood Airport, Liverpool International Business Park, MediaCityUK, Trafford Quays, Calder Park Wakefield, and Weaste, Greater Manchester.

The company also offers water abstraction and discharge services across the Peel Group portfolio of canals, rivers and docks.