Business Stream seals Yorkshire deal to become second largest retailer

Business Stream last week said it had become the second largest water retailer in the UK, having formally completed its acquisition of Yorkshire Water Business Services (YWBS).

The Edinburgh based retailer announced plans at the start of 2019 to buy Yorkshire Water’s in-area business customers served by YWBS, and its out-of-area business customers served by Three Sixty. The deal took effect last month, almost doubling Business Stream’s market share.

Together with organic growth worth £280m since the English market opened in 2017, it said this now means it serves 340,000 customers and has become the second largest retailer in the UK, behind Water Plus.

Recent wins for Business Stream include the UK wide portfolios of Lloyds Banking Group, Network Rail, Regus Management and Cancer Research UK. Business Stream also secured what it described as “the largest single public sector contract awarded this year” – with the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation YPO.