What Wave Utilities does

Wave Utilities is the trading brand of Anglian Water Business (National) Limited, a private limited company registered in England and Wales (Company Number 03017251) with its registered office in Durham, United Kingdom. Wave was formed from Anglian Water Business and NWG (Northumbrian Water Group) Business to serve the English non-household water market, which opened to competition on 1 April 2017. The company is licensed by Ofwat, operates across the Anglian, Northumbrian and Essex & Suffolk wholesale regions in England and in Scotland, and serves more than 300,000 business customers organised into SME, large/multi-site, public-sector, TPI/broker and trade-effluent segments.

Wave's core proposition is business water and wastewater retail services: billing, account management, customer support, consolidated multi-site billing (Pay at Parent / Pay at Site) and onboarding via a paperless, quote-driven Switch to Wave journey. Around this core it wraps a value-added services layer branded Active Water Management (automatic meter readers, leakage find-and-fix with acoustic detection, water-efficiency audits, contingency planning, Legionella risk assessments, new connections and engineering services) plus a specialist Trade Effluent offering that supports around 4,000 consents/DPIDs. The supporting technology includes a passwordless My Account portal (Microsoft/Google SSO plus one-time email codes), an in-house Trade Effluent consent and billing system, the external WaterCore trading platform and AMR hardware integrations; the November 2025 acquisition of Cambridge-based InFerSens added sensor, IP and patent assets for leak detection.

The revenue model is dominated by usage-based retail charges for water and wastewater (rates set per wholesale region and revised annually), supplemented by fee-based Active Water Management and Trade Effluent professional services, TPI/broker commissions, managed multi-site billing services and limited data-monetisation revenue via an Experian payment-behaviour integration. Pricing is bespoke (per quote or per project) rather than published, with payment options including Variable Direct Debit (10-14 days post-bill), Fixed Direct Debit (6-12 month review), BACS, cheque and debit/credit card. Wave is privately held with ~330 employees and reported revenue exceeding £500M in December 2025.

Name

Wave Utilities

Legal name

Anglian Water Business (National) Limited

Website

https://wave-utilities.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Wave Utilities is a UK business water retailer (trading brand of Anglian Water Business (National) Limited) that bills and supports more than 300,000 commercial customers for water, wastewater and trade effluent across the Anglian, Northumbrian and Essex & Suffolk wholesale regions, with value-added Active Water Management, leakage find-and-fix and AMR services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Business Water Retail

NAICS

Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (22131), Water, Sewage and Other Systems (2213)

SIC

Water Supply (4941), Electric, Gas & Sanitary Services (4900)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Self-Service & Customer Portals (web/mobile, e-bill, notifications, consumption dashboards) (EUANAIAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Regulatory Compliance Monitoring & Reporting (SDWA/CWA/NPDES, permits, audits) (EUANAJAA)

Keywords

• Business water retail
• Water utility services
• Wastewater management
• Trade effluent services
• Water efficiency solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Durham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail water and wastewater charges: Core revenue stream charging business customers for water supply, wastewater (sewerage) services and trade effluent disposal via Deemed Contracts or fixed term retail contracts; rates set per wholesale region (Northumbrian, Anglian, Essex & Suffolk) and revised annually
2. Active Water Management / professional services: Fee-based water efficiency services including data collection (AMR installation), leakage detection and repair, water efficiency audits, contingency planning, compliance work, new connections and engineering services; pricing varies by scope and site survey
3. TPI/Broker commission income: Competitive commission structure paid to third-party intermediaries and brokers who bring new clients; simple payment terms and 10-day quote turnaround
4. Late-payment / data monetisation via Experian: Payment behaviour data shared with Experian, which can appear on customer credit reports; supports credit-reference revenue and incentivises on-time payment
5. Managed multi-site billing services: Consolidated billing (Pay at Parent / Pay at Site) for multi-site customers, including tailored reports, account management and dedicated support; effectively managed services revenue tied to portfolio size

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Core offering

Wave Utilities is a UK business water retailer operating in the open (post-1 April 2017) English water market, providing water and wastewater retail services — billing, account management, consolidated multi-site billing and customer support — to SMEs, large and multi-site organisations, TPIs/brokers and public-sector bodies. It wraps this core offering around a self-service 'My Account' portal and an extensive add-on suite covering Active Water Management (water efficiency, leakage find-and-fix, AMR installation), Trade Effluent consent management and billing, regulatory compliance, contingency planning, new connections, and a Carbon Mentor service for net-zero support.

Product overview

Wave Utilities offers a single business water retail proposition organised as a core service wrapped around a self-service portal (My Account) and an extensive add-on module suite (Active Water Management, Trade Effluent, Leakage Find and Fix, AMR, High Consumption Alerts, Contingency Planning, New Connections, Compliance and Engineering Services). The core Water Retail Services deliver billing, account management and customer support for SMEs, large/multi-site organisations, public-sector bodies and TPIs/brokers, while the Active Water Management umbrella and Trade Effluent Services extend the proposition into water-efficiency consulting, IoT metering, leakage detection/repair, regulatory compliance and carbon mentoring (via the Carbon Mentor Service). Direct Debit and Switch to Wave sit as adjacent payment and onboarding services, and WaterCore is referenced as a supporting platform. Together these products form a unified water-retail-and-efficiency platform rather than a standalone SaaS product, with My Account acting as the digital front door and Active Water Management as the value-added services layer.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• NWGB (NWG Business): Recruitment platform branding (nwgb.bamboohr.com) used for Wave's vacancies, referencing the predecessor NWG Business.
• WaterCore

Products and services

• Wave Water Retail Services
• My Account
• Active Water Management
• Trade Effluent Services
• Direct Debit
• Switch to Wave
• Leakage Find and Fix
• Automatic Meter Reader (AMR)
• High Consumption Alerts
• Carbon Mentor Service
• Contingency Planning & Alternative Water Supplies
• New Connections & Disconnections
• Compliance & Engineering Services

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Thames Water Commercial: Commercial retail arm of the UK's largest water wholesaler. While primarily a wholesaler, it competes in business retail with Wave for large-user and multi-site accounts, with broader group scale.
• Pennon Water Services: Water retail arm of Pennon Group (South West Water parent). Operates business water retail alongside regulated wholesaler activities, comparable to Wave in the open market though backed by a larger utility group.

Emerging players

• Yu Energy: UK business energy retailer (gas and electricity) increasingly active in water via partnerships. Comparable to Wave on the cross-utility SMB proposition and broker-led sales motion, but with limited own-brand water capability.
• Everflow: Multi-utility retailer (water, gas, electricity) targeting UK businesses through broker and direct channels. Comparable to Wave on the multi-utility bundling and TPI-led distribution angle, though water is a smaller part of its mix.

Direct peers

• Castle Water: Major UK business water retailer (acquired Business Stream in 2020). Directly comparable to Wave in serving business customers with water retail, wastewater and value-added services across England and Scotland.
• Clear Business Water: UK business water retailer targeting SMEs with competitive tariff-switching propositions and broker-led distribution, directly comparable to Wave's SME and TPI go-to-market motion.
• SES Water (now SES Business Water): UK water company that operates a business retail arm supplying commercial customers. Competes with Wave in the open market with a focus on smaller business users and broker channels.
• Water Plus: One of the largest UK business water retailers, formed as a joint venture between United Utilities and Severn Trent. Competes head-to-head with Wave in the open English business water market serving SMEs, multi-site and public-sector customers.

Others

• Morrison Water Services: UK water and infrastructure services contractor (a Morrison Utility Services business). Adjacent — not a retailer — but comparable to Wave's 'New Connections' and 'Engineering Services' lines as a partner/competitor for operational water services work.
• SaveMoneyCutCarbon: Wave's partner in the 'Carbon Mentor Service' sustainability offering. Adjacent ecosystem participant providing carbon/energy advisory services to Wave's customer base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@wave-utilities
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wave-utilities
• Xx.com/waveutilitiesuk

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wave Utilities