Thames Water Commercial Services (TWCS) has hit a major milestone in its Scottish operation by announcing that it has exceeded the ambitious growth target set just over 12 months ago to double the number of commercial sites it manages in Scotland.

The growth surge – which now means TWCS has in excess of 1300 sites on its books - comes as the firm completes a move to larger premises in Linlithgow, West Lothian.

TWCS attributes its Scottish success to businesses and organisations increasingly viewing changing water supplier with the same sense of importance as switching gas and electricity, as awareness steadily grows following Scotland’s 2008 water retail market deregulation.

The company is highlighting 2016 as a key year for business as interest builds towards England’s impending 2017 deregulation – nine years after Scotland – which is expected to see much discussion and analysis north and south of the Border.

Alan Munro, who heads the Scottish TWCS team, believes 2016 could be the biggest year yet in terms of new client growth, as it seizes more of the £330million non-household retail market in Scotland and prepares to ramp up its activity south of the border   

He said: “2015 saw us rapidly grow our team in order to tap into the huge demand that we knew was out there.

“It is hugely pleasing that we were able to grow our customer base so significantly while offering unparalleled service to clients in almost every sector imaginable.

“To now have in excess of 1300 sites on our books – surpassing what we thought was a hugely ambitious target to double up from our initial portfolio of 600 sites – in our first year with our new team speaks volumes of quality of the TWCS service offering.

 “We believe TWCS is establishing itself as a market leader in Scotland in addressing these challenges.”

Since 2008 - the first time in the world that a retail market was opened to competition - around 130,000 non-household customers in Scotland have been able to choose who can supply their water and wastewater services.

The sector is currently still led by Scottish Water subsidiary Business Stream, the default supplier following market deregulation – TWCS said but this is “simply because many businesses remain unaware of the potential cost saving and other benefits of moving to another supplier.”

Alan Munro added:

“The broader picture is that the water market in Scotland is wide open and with our growing team we are able to help more businesses to save money by switching their water supplier.

“But we also understand that it is not just a money game. We also offer businesses and organisations the added value of developing strategies to better manage their water and waste services; even offering educational support to help enforce cultural change to show employees how to use water more efficiently.”

“That is very attractive additional service as more firms look to ensure they closely focus on operating costs and look to meeting their environmental responsibilities.”

TWCS has been operating in Scotland for just under three years, attracting a customer base across banking, finance, hotels, leisure, commercial, education and retail sectors.

It has been based in Edinburgh but has moved to Linlithgow to allow it to work from a central Scotland base to service its customers and growth ambitions.