Water market switches have now reached over 22,500 since the competitive retail market opened for business in April, according to market operator MOSL.

In his farwell letter to MOSL staff last week Chief Executive, Ben Jeffs said supply point switches had reached 22.539 – from businesses large and small – with many more to come.

Two months into the new market, there are also 35 water retailers competing to provide businesses with new tariffs and services.

However, he went on to caution that the early signs of success were no reason for complacency, saying that MOSL would need to continue to work with its members to ensure the market delivers for customers.

Ben Jeffs told MOSL staff:

“MOSL has always had a strong and clear vision for our role in the market and the value we can deliver to our members as the market operator. Now that the market is open, it’s up to us to drive the delivery and renewal of this vision so that we can continue to be the ‘honest broker’ at the heart of a well-functioning market.”

“As anyone that has been involved in systems implementations in their careers will tell you, delivering one on time and on budget is extremely rare. Successfully implementing a central system that involves every company in a sector making such major changes to their business-critical systems is an extraordinary feat.”

He also took the opportunity to thank programme partners Defra, Ofwat, CGI , together with Douglas Millican, Chief Executive of Scottish Water, Alan Sutherland and the Open Water Markets Ltd team and the CEOs of founding members Peter Simpson at Anglian Water, Heidi Mottram at Northumbrian Water and Steve Mogford at United Utilities.