Scots firm wins retailer’s water contract

DEPARTMENT store retailer House of Fraser has switched its water supplier at three of its largest city centre stores, including Manchester and Birmingham.

Under new rules being introduced by regulator OFWAT all businesses will be able to shop around for the best deal for water from 2017, but companies using more than five million litres of water a year can move suppliers now.

House of Fraser is moving to Business Stream, a subsidiary of Scottish Water, with whom it has agreed a two-year deal covering its flagship Oxford Street store in London and also Birmingham and Manchester.

In addition Business Stream will also install automated meter readers into 10 more stores following successful AMR deployment at its stores in Edinburgh and Glasgow.  This echnology automatically measures water consumption every 15 minutes which allows spikes in use to be identified quickly, which in turn can highlight underlying problems such as leaks.

Jo Dow, chief executive of Business Stream said: “House of Fraser is a valued partner for us in Scotland and they were very clear on the benefits of bringing more of their water estate under one supplier, which is something we know many businesses are keen to do.

“There’s clearly an appetite from businesses across every sector to make water work more efficiently for them. House of Fraser has recognised that we can work with them to support their ambitious sustainability goals as well as deliver financial savings.”

Frank J Slevin, executive chairman at House of Fraser added: “Our sustainability measures are extremely important to us as a business and as a key player in the retail sector we have a responsibility to try and identify creative solutions to manage these issues.

“Business Stream’s support and expertise in water saving, recycling, auditing and leak protection will help us become even more efficient and support our wider sustainability ambitions which in turn will add value to our business.”