Water competition will arrive on time

“Events, dear boy, events.” Harold Macmillan’s famous words neatly sum up the challenges to the nascent water market over the past year. To recap just a few ‘events’: original Open Water chief executive Keith Fowler made an unplanned exit in February; despite months of advertising, a permanent new boss was never found; the government bowed to pressure and made an 11th hour decision to allow companies to exit the retail market; and the Treasury slapped Ofwat in the face with an unexpected decision to classify Open Water Markets Ltd as a public body, thus scuppering the regulator’s plans to speed the programme through at arm’s length.

To the cynical observer, this might smack of mismanagement and a lack of direction. But the water sector, notably united, insists this is not so. While Open Water has been lacking a permanent chief executive for most of the year, it has had clear and competent leadership from both interim chief executive John Parsonage and Scottish regulator and board member Alan Sutherland.

By taking the decision – not popular in all quarters – to largely replicate the Scottish model of market operations and governance, Open Water has eased the process. The Treasury’s decision was admittedly a blow, but it could prove to have unexpectedly positive results, with Open Water set up ready for use at a later date and the programme now reporting directly in to Sonia Brown, whose time will be freed up once PR14 is concluded.

Meanwhile, company chief executives are beginning to look up, dazed, from their PR14 plans and see the challenges of competition ahead. The culture shift required by business separation is huge: following a series of high-level workshops over the summer, the companies are, to varying degrees, beginning to get to grips with this.

The water sector isn’t keen on drama – companies still shudder at the memory of Section 13. Without doubt, the Open Water programme has been prey to events, and has been muddled in some places and delayed in others. But thanks to the hard work of a few and the sector’s usual can-do attitude, the market will open on time in 2017 and a quiet revolution will have been achieved.