A multi-million pound contract has been secured by the UK’s longest-established water retailer that will see it continue to provide water and waste water billing services for Scotland’s public sector.

Business Stream, headquartered in Edinburgh, has been awarded the Scottish Government’s Water and Waste Water Services Framework contract, which will run for the next three years with a plus one extension option.

The Framework was awarded following a competitive tender process and will see the retailer deliver water and waste water services to public sector organisations across Scotland, including all 32 local authorities, NHS Scotland, Scottish Fire & Rescue, Police Scotland, Scottish Prison Service, universities and colleges and the Scottish Government.

Jo Dow (pictured above), Chief Executive of Business Stream, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to have secured this Framework. We have a vast amount of experience of working with the public sector to deliver cost savings and environmental efficiencies and we’re looking forward to continuing our partnership.

Our focus will remain on delivering water efficiencies to help further reduce costs, while building on the community benefits and Fair Work First programme we’ve delivered to date.”

Business Stream delivered more than £2.85million in savings to the public sector in 2022/23, taking the total saved over the first three years of the contract to £6.4million. The water savings in 2022/23 equate to more than 1.365 billion litres of water – the equivalent of 546 Olympic swimming pools.

A Scottish Government spokesperson stated: “Following a competitive tender process with an evaluation based on price and quality, the Scottish Water Business Stream Ltd offering was selected as best value for the Scottish public purse.”

In recognition of its commitment to the sustainability agenda, Business Stream was awarded a gold rating from global sustainability assessors, EcoVadis, in November 2023, placing it within the 97th percentile of companies assessed worldwide.

The company also recently announced it had become carbon neutral certified following its partnership with climate action specialists, Ecologi, and cut its emissions by 50% last year. The result, measured from April 2022 to April 2023, and externally verified, exceeded the retailer’s promise to cut emissions by 20% during the 12-month period.

Business Stream’s latest environmental successes mark a key component of its vision to make a positive difference (MAPD) to its customers, its people, the environment and its local communities.