Edinburgh water firm Business Stream takes on thousands of sites under Scottish Government contract

Business Stream, the Edinburgh-based non-domestic water supplier, has taken on thousands of Scottish public sector sites after a new contract kicked in.

Jo Dow is the chief executive of Business Stream, the water retailer headquartered in Edinburgh.

The company, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Scottish Water with its own board and management team, was awarded the Scottish Government public sector procurement contract at the start of the year and has now successfully “onboarded” some 15,000 sites.

The contract, worth some £200 million, covers public sector bodies such as local authorities, NHS Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue, Police Scotland and the Scottish Prison Service, as well as universities and colleges.

To support the delivery of the new contract, the firm has taken on an additional 16 staff.

In reaction to Covid-19, Business Stream has also seen its entire workforce switch to operating from home.

Chief executive Jo Dow said: “Our dedicated team has worked incredibly hard to ensure that Covid-19 didn’t result in any delays to our onboarding process.

“We are looking forward to working in partnership with our public sector customers across Scotland.”

Earlier this year, the firm announced that it was the second largest water retailer in the UK, following its acquisition of Yorkshire Water Business Services and its success in securing more than £280m of contracts since the English market was opened to competition in 2017. The Scottish non-domestic, retail water market had been opened up in 2008.