Water retailers see improved performance scores

Market performance scores (MPS) published by non-household market operator MOSL have shown significant improvements from retailers in the sector.

Water2Business retained its top spot in the retailer ranking for 2021/22 with a rating of 96%, whilst Everflow and First Water Business came in second and third with scores of 94.1% and 93.5% respectively. Water2Business has taken the top position in all three years since the MOSL began publishing the tables in 2019/20, increasing its score by 6.5 percentage points overall.

Trading parties are marked on their performance against the standards in completing tasks on time. Performance standards, which are part of the Market Performance Framework (MPF), cover areas of customer setup, service, switching and activities such as the taking and submitting meter readings to support accurate customer billing.

Clear Business Water came last in the league table with a score of 87.8%. Despite improving its performance score by 10.1% when compared with the previous year, Castle Water moved up only one place to ninth with a score of 88.1%.

Most wholesalers also increased their scores when compared to the previous year, although MOSL noted a general decline in performance between the first half of 2021/21 and the last six months.

United Utilities remained the highest performer with score of 92.4% and Southern dropped from sixth to last with a score of 80%. Thames climbed from ninth to sixth, whilst Wessex dropped from fourth to seventh.

Following lockdown restrictions in 2020/21 the past year has been a return to normal for the market as business customers have resumed more regular trading and the volume of MPS tasks have returned to pre-pandemic levels. Most trading parties doubled the number of tasks completed during the period.

The percentage scores are given for how many of the tasks are completed on time within each standard. Failing to perform against the market and operational performance standards results in charges to trading parties. Following a code change, a proportion of these charges can now be used to fund projects as part of the Market Improvement Fund launched to encourage innovation and development.

This is the last time MOSL will be publishing the peer comparison league tables. From June, it will move towards holistic reporting across a number of performance areas, which has been supported and co-developed by trading parties and the Market Performance Committee.

MOSL is also undertaking an extensive programme of work to reform the Market Performance Framework, which is a key improvement programme in its 2022-25 Business Plan, approved by members in February 2022. It will involve a review of the current framework to assess the best ways to incentivise behaviours.