Ofwat is developing C-MeX and D-MeX, new measures of residential customer experience and developer services customer experience for the upcoming 2019 Price Review.
Both measures will incorporate financial and reputational incentives to challenge companies on the quality of their customer service and measure overall customer satisfaction.
Unlike its predecessor, SIM, C-MeX will link financial incentives to the performance level of the best performing companies in all sectors. According to John Russell, his will prove “especially impactful” because customers don’t compare their water services with those provided by other water companies. C-MeX will therefore take account of where water companies stand with regards to customer service in comparison to big players like John Lewis and Amazon, who he described as renowned for their excellent customer experience.
Ofwat has also highlighted developer services customers as also an important customer group which in the past hasn’t always received the most seamless, efficient service from water companies. PR19 will test the developer experience for the first time through D-MeX.
The regulator will design pilots for C-MeX and D-MeX in the near future with the aim of running them later this year to ensure that the measures are sufficiently robust to use as financial incentive mechanisms, before 2020.
New test to demonstrate how utilities are supporting vulnerable customers
Ofwat will also hold companies to account by assessing business plans against an affordability test, and for the first time, an explicit test on how they are supporting vulnerable customers. The test will take into account information provided to us not only by companies but also from other organisations such as customer challenge groups (CCGs).
The water companies will need to prove they have engaged with their customers on how they will address affordability and how they will improve their support to customers in circumstances that make them vulnerable, to ensure that they have taken account of customers’ views in their proposals.
bNovate has launched BactoCloud, a secure cloud-based platform that connects and manages its BactoSense instruments, enabling real-time monitoring and optimization of microbial water quality.
Amiblu, a global leader in Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) pipe systems for wastewater, stormwater, drinking water, irrigation, hydropower, and industrial applications, has announced the appointment of Martyn Turton as its Sales Director for the UK & Ireland, driving strategic market development in the infrastructure and water sectors, effective immediately.
As a project manager at Metasphere, a Grundfos-owned remote telemetry company at the cutting edge of innovation, Fey McHarg, has witnessed firsthand how the intelligent harnessing of data, specifically through the data-as-a-service model, is fundamentally reshaping and revolutionising the water sector.
Attendees at next month’s National Civils Show, Floodex, National Drainage Show and Waterways Management on 26th and 27th November are set to benefit from an expert speaker line-up and the opportunity to visit a wide range of exhibitors all co-located in one place at Excel, London, one of the UK’s leading international exhibition and convention centres.
Hear how Scottish Water has completed its £235 million Ayrshire Glasgow Resilience Project - customers across Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire will now benefit from a more secure and resilient water supply.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.
Find out more about the remarkable career opportunities on offer at WSP - scroll down to watch the inspirational video.