The Central Market Agency (CMA), the organisation that administers the water retail market in Scotland, has appointed the  former chairman of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency David Sigsworth as its new Chairman.

David Sigsworth held the post of Chairman of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency from 2008-2015, and is a former director of Scottish & Southern Energy.

He takes over governance of the CMA in August from Brian Saunders who has held the post of Chairman since the CMA was set up in 2005, when legislation was introduced that saw Scotland become the first country in the world where businesses could choose their supplier of water and wastewater services.

Since then the CMA has administered all aspects of the business water market, including registering which Licensed Provider is responsible for which supply points and calculating the wholesale charges owed by each of these companies to Scottish Water.

David Sigsworth said:

“This is an exciting time to be joining the CMA as the business water market has never been so buoyant or so competitive. Scotland has led the way globally in business water services, with the Market helping hundreds of companies take advantage of the ability to switch providers.

“We are also seeing many of our Licensed Providers take advantage of their experience of operating in Scotland to enter the newly created English market. I look forward to taking up my new role and to continuing the successful operation of both the CMA and the Market.”

CMA Chief Executive Jeremy Atkinson said that the incoming Chairman’s knowledge of markets and the water industry would be invaluable to the CMA, commenting:

“I’d like to thank Brian Saunders for his chairmanship and support. He has overseen the CMA with great skill and insight from market opening through to the healthy competition we see today with 24 Licensed Providers and a high percentage of switching.”