Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company (CMBC) has applied to Ofwat for a water supply licence and a sewerage licence (WSSL), with a retail authorisation limited to self-supply.

Image: Marston's Brewery, Burton upon Trent

If granted, this will enable CMBC to provide retail services to itself and associated persons. A WSSL limited to self-supply will only be granted to supply premises supplied or served using the water supply or sewerage system of a water company whose area is wholly or mainly in England.

A synopsis of CMBC’s business plan says it is one of the newest, historic brewers in the UK, formed out of a joint venture between Carlsberg UK and Marston’s PLC, who are both shareholders.

CMBC owns and operates a brewery and distribution network across the UK, including:

• the Carlsberg brewery in Northampton;
• London Fields in Hackney;
• Marston’s in Burton upon Trent;
• Banks’s in Wolverhampton;
• Wychwood in Witney, Oxfordshire;
• Jennings in Cockermouth, Cumbria;
• Ringwood in Hampshire;
• Eagle in Bedford;
• plus a National Distribution Centre in Northampton and some other UK-wide distribution depots.

The business plan says CMBC intends to use the minimum amount of water throughout the brewing process, and to make the most of every drop. It aims to halve water use per hectolitre (hl) of beer produced by 2030, to use just 1.7 hl/hl, eliminating water waste.

CMBC has set the following targets:

• By 2022 - 25% reduction in water usage at its breweries. • Explore going below 2.0 hl/hl at all high-risk breweries.
• By 2030 - 50% reduction in water usage at its breweries. • Safeguard shared water resources in high-risk areas.

The business plan says:

“CMBC recognises that reaching its zero targets will not be an easy task and currently many of the solutions for eliminating carbon and wastewater at its breweries do not exist yet.”

To address this the Carlsberg laboratory in Copenhagen is tasked with identifying new methods and technologies to meet its targets.

Prior to the joint venture, several of Marston's PLC breweries and distribution depots were supplied under Marston’s PLC self-supply licence and have been since December 2017. Each brewery has its own reporting framework in place, utilising AMR data and meter reads sent from the on-site engineers, displaying both live consumption and cost data broken down into each billed service component.

According to CMBC, having these sites operated under the self-supply model, the brewery has seen how having a self-supply licence allows companies to take more control over their data and tailor their water reporting whilst also benefitting from the direct wholesaler relationship to build on the success of water programs already in place.

The brewery also hopes that by being an active participant in the market this will drive further innovation and provide a direct customer voice in MOSL discussions.

CMBC has separately entered a partnership agreement with Waterscan to take on the role and responsibilities for the retail functions including meter reading, CMOS transactions, wholesaler management and finding further water efficiency savings.

As a self-supply licensee, CMBC intends to serve 21 sites and do the following:

1. Pay wholesale prices – the price that retailers pay to the water companies
2. Not pay retail margin added by suppliers in the open water market
3. Become a market participant including membership of MOSL with voting rights and the ability to directly influence the market
4. Be able to supply water services to multiple sites

Deadline to make representations or objections to Ofwat with respect to the application is 5.00pm on 1 March 2022 – click here for more information