South Staffs Water remains responsible for the supply of the water to your premises. It will be the same water from the same pipes before and after switching.

We supply the water on a wholesale basis to the licensed retailer, who will, in turn, sell these services to business customers.

Retailers will compete with each other by offering the best deal and eligible customers can choose which retailer to buy water and sewerage services from, including meter reading, billing, customer services and additional related products and services.

It will be similar to what has already happened in other utility markets (gas, electricity and telecoms).

You can find more information about the opening of the market on the Open Water website.

You will be notified that payments for your water will go to a different bank account belonging to Source for Business (formerly South Staffs Water Business). These changes will be reflected in your bank statement

• If you currently pay by Direct Debit, you do not need to do anything as your bank will be notified of these changes, but payments will only be requested for your water charges
• If you pay using direct transfers or at the bank or post office, please ensure you make your water payments to the new bank account. This can be found on the payment slip of your first bill from Source for Business
• If you choose to switch retailers payment details will be amended so that you pay your new retailer direct.

You can find out more information about other retailers in the market on the Open Water website.

You should contact your new retailer for all non-emergency queries relating to your water supply and your account services.

If the main use of your property is domestic, rather than business, and you have not been told you are eligible to switch retail supplier, you will remain a customer of South Staffs Water and you will continue to receive the excellent levels of service and great value for money we have always worked hard to deliver.

 You can find out more about the criteria you need to meet to become eligible to switch retailers on the Open Water website.

No. You can choose to do nothing and remain with your default retailer and explore your options whenever you choose.

The services you receive won’t change without prior notification from your retailer.

Any company that holds a relevant Water Supply and Sewerage Services licence could act as your retailer. 

If you would like more information, details of all licensed retailers and how to switch can be found on the Open Water website or on Ofwat's website.

For existing or prospective water supply licensees please review our network access code and our indicative access pricing.

These additional documents are relevant to combined water supply licensees who wish to introduce water into our supply network. If you require more information on this please contact our Wholesale Service Desk at:

Or you can email: wsd@south-staffs-water.co.uk