What C&C Group Holdings does

C&C Group Holdings Limited is a privately held UK IT services company, founded circa 1988 and headquartered in Redhill with a second office in Gateshead. The company develops and operates cloud-native software platforms and managed services for organisations operating in the UK's regulated electricity, gas, water, and pharmaceutical markets. Its primary customers are DNOs, IDNOs, IGTs, electricity and water retailers, central-market bodies (RECCo, Elexon, MOSL, CMA Scotland), and pharmaceutical industry organisations including the ABPI. C&C Group serves 70+ clients and processes 50 million transactions and 10+ million market messages per day.

The core technology stack is built on Microsoft Azure and is organised around the UNITY platform (electricity, gas, water market operations) and the SWIM suite (water market messaging, settlement, and primary transactions). Specialist products include IDNO itc, IGT itc, DUBS (DUoS billing), LOCUS (unmetered supplies), Asset Value Portal, and ClickMaster. The company also runs central-market services on behalf of RECCo (Electricity Enquiry Service) and Elexon (Technical Assurance Agent), and operates the ABPI Disclosure UK transparency platform, which processed £813.3 million of disclosure value in 2024 for 150+ pharmaceutical companies and 48,000+ active users. AI capabilities (search, AIOps, anomaly detection, predictive analytics) are embedded within the platform layer. C&C Group holds ISO 27001, ISO 9001, and ISO 14001 certifications.

The business model combines long-term managed-service contracts, business process outsourcing, and subscription-based data services sold via direct enterprise sales to regulated UK customers. Pricing is quote-based, billed annually, and tied to scope, sector, and operational complexity. Market share figures provided by the company indicate dominant positions in several UK regulatory sub-markets: 99%+ of DNO/IDNO MPANs for MHHS, 99.2% of IDNO MPANs for CSS switching, 80% of IGT businesses, 75% of bilateral water transactions, and 50% of primary water transactions.

Name

C&C Group Holdings

Legal name

C&C Group Holdings Limited

Website

https://candc-uk.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

C&C Group Holdings is a UK-based IT services company that builds cloud-native software platforms and managed services for regulated electricity, gas, water, and pharmaceutical market participants, including DNOs, IDNOs, IGTs, water retailers, RECCo, Elexon, CMA Scotland, and ABPI.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Utility Market Software and Managed Services

NAICS

Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (51821)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Software/Application Support (SaaS, Enterprise Apps) (BPAAACAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Billing, Payments & Account Administration Centers (BPAAAAAF)

Keywords

• Utility market software
• Cloud-native platforms
• Managed services
• Regulatory compliance software
• Critical national infrastructure

Headquarters

HQ city

Redhill

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Managed Services: Fully managed cloud services combining software delivery, secure hosting, 24/7 operational support, continuous optimization and long-term platform stewardship. Covers electricity, gas, water and pharmaceutical sectors with recurring revenue from long-term contractual relationships.
2. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO): Outsourced operational support across electricity, gas, and pharmaceutical sectors. Includes registration management, settlement, billing, switching, network data operations, data validation, query handling, and regulatory reporting.
3. Data Services: Specialist data and reporting services transforming complex operational data into actionable insight. Includes data extracts, RESTful APIs, and dedicated tools like ClickMaster for real-time data access.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

C&C Group Holdings develops and operates cloud-native software platforms and managed services for the UK's regulated utility markets (electricity, gas, water) and pharmaceutical/healthcare sectors. Core offerings include the UNITY platform and its messaging modules (DIP, DTN, CSS, Message Vault) for electricity and water market participants, the SWIM suite for competitive water retail, and dedicated products (IDNO itc, IGT itc, DUBS, LOCUS, AVP, ClickMaster) serving DNOs, IDNOs, IGTs, wholesalers, and retailers. The company also delivers national managed services including the Electricity Enquiry Service for RECCo, Technical Assurance Agent oversight for Elexon, Business Process Outsourcing, RESTful data services and APIs, and the ABPI Disclosure UK platform.

Product overview

C&C Group delivers a multi-utility product suite spanning electricity, gas, and water markets, organized as a platform-plus-modules architecture. The flagship UNITY platform unifies electricity, gas, and water market operations within a single cloud-native environment, with specialized modules for DIP, DTN, CSS, and Message Vault messaging. The SWIM product suite (including SWIM-Pool, SWIM-Settlement, and SWIM-ware) powers the competitive Non-Household water market as technical service provider to the Central Market Agency. Dedicated products include IDNO itc for electricity network operators, IGT itc for gas transporters, DUBS for DUoS billing, LOCUS for unmetered supplies, and AVP for asset valuation. Supporting services include the Electricity Enquiry Service (EES) for RECCo, Technical Assurance Agent (TAA) for Elexon, Business Process Outsourcing, and Data Services including RESTful APIs. The company operates across UK Critical National Infrastructure and regulated pharmaceutical/healthcare sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• UNITY: C&C Group's flagship cloud-native platform for electricity, gas, and water market operations.
• SWIM
• IGT itc
• IDNO itc
• DUBS
• LOCUS
• ClickMaster
• Asset Value Portal (AVP)
• Electricity Enquiry Service (EES)
• Technical Assurance Agent (TAA)

Products and services

• UNITY Platform Cloud-native platform that unifies electricity, gas, and water market operations within a single, secure and scalable environment. Built on Microsoft Azure with a tenant-based architecture, UNITY consolidates billing, messaging, data governance and regulatory reporting for UK market participants.
• UNITY Messenger DIP Cloud-native middleware gateway enabling secure, compliant, and high-performance connectivity between participant systems and Elexon's Data Integration Platform (DIP). As an Elexon-recognised DIP Connection Provider, it supports Market-wide Half Hourly Settlement (MHHS) and wider industry messaging requirements.
• UNITY Messenger DTN Cloud-native service enabling secure, reliable and compliant communication between operational systems and the ElectraLink Data Transfer Network (DTN), supporting exchange of Data Transfer Catalogue (DTC) messages across electricity market participants.
• UNITY Messenger CSS Cloud-native CSS adaptor enabling seamless integration between the electricity Metering Point Registration System (MPRS) and the UK Energy Central Switching Service (CSS), underpinning 99.2% of all IDNO MPANs for switching operations.
• UNITY Message Vault Secure, cloud-native message archiving and assurance platform providing protocol-agnostic capture and storage of communications across DIP, DTN, and CSS. Delivers complete operational visibility, regulatory assurance, and evidential integrity, with AI-powered sub-second search across hundreds of millions of messages.
• SWIM Product Suite Market-leading water market platforms powering more wholesalers and retailers in the competitive Non-Household water market than any other software provider. Includes SWIM-Pool, SWIM-Settlement, and SWIM-ware modules.
• SWIM-Pool Bilateral messaging platform connecting Wholesalers and Retailers within the Non-Household Water Market, enabling sharing of information, requests and resolutions including exchanging meters. Supports approximately 75% of all bilateral transactions.
• SWIM-Settlement Multi-module platform enabling organisations to independently validate MOSL and CMA settlement, what-if modelling, revenue forecasting and retailer pricing. Processes around 50% of all primary market transactions.
• SWIM-ware Platform connecting Wholesalers and Retailers to the Central Market system for Scotland (CMA via CMOS) and England (MOSL), allowing transfer of Primary Messages in competitive water markets.
• IDNO itc MHHS-compliant platform for Independent Distribution Network Operators (IDNOs) providing full capability to manage developments, metering points, MPANs and network connections in compliance with Distribution Licence obligations.
• IGT itc Nexus-compliant, cloud-hosted Asset Management and Billing platform for Independent Gas Transporters (IGTs), managing gas networks, supply points, metering and billing processes in line with UK gas industry regulations.
• DUBS (DUoS Billing System) Purpose-built DUoS Income and Billing platform for IDNOs, enabling accurate, automated and fully auditable calculation of Distribution Use of System charges across complex electricity portfolios, supporting both legacy and MHHS arrangements.
• LOCUS MHHS-compliant Unmetered Supplies Management Platform designed for Unmetered Supplies Operators (UMSOs), providing complete lifecycle management of unmetered MSIDs in full compliance with BSCP704.
• Asset Value Portal (AVP) Secure, end-to-end platform digitising and modernising the asset valuation process for IDNOs, IGTs, and adopting utilities. Provides a sophisticated environment to manage quotations and customer interactions with total auditability and control, integrating with Microsoft Graph for flexible calculation engine workflows.
• Electricity Enquiry Service (EES) National market platform operated on behalf of RECCo, providing authoritative access to electricity address and MPAN data across GB. Underpins transparency, switching accuracy and operational integrity within the electricity market.
• Technical Assurance Agent (TAA) Independent oversight service for Elexon providing structured assurance, risk assessment and evidential reporting for system performance, data integrity and operational compliance within the Balancing and Settlement Code framework.
• Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Secure, scalable BPO services enabling organisations to focus on strategic priorities while C&C Group manages complex, business-critical operations. UK-based expert teams provide fully managed support across electricity, gas, water, and pharmaceutical sectors, including registration management, settlement, billing, switching, network data operations, data validation, query handling, and regulatory reporting.
• Data Services Specialist data and reporting services transforming complex operational data into clear, actionable insight. Includes Data Extracts, RESTful APIs (Property Data Services APIs intelligently triangulating electricity, gas and PAF data), and dedicated tools like ClickMaster for electricity, gas, and water markets.
• ClickMaster Excel-based bulk search tool for electricity and gas MPxN and Meter Serial Numbers that pulls real-time industry data directly into Excel, eliminating time-consuming manual work for GB energy market participants.

Quantifiable outcome

• 99.99% KPI/SLAs delivered under contract
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers22 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

AI capability6 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Central Market Agency (CMA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025C&C Group serves as technology partner for Scotland's Central Market Agency, responsible for design, operation, and support of Central Market Systems. The long-term managed service contract was extended in December 2025 under a 3+2 year term, reflecting the platform's critical and enduring role in Scotland's competitive water market. C&C Group redesigned CMA's Central Systems to meet evolving needs with tenfold scalability.
• Sphere Energy Connect (part of Scottish Power Group)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 March 2025Sphere Energy Connect appointed C&C Group as strategic partner for IDNO market entry, IT systems, and associated operational managed services. This partnership reflects confidence in C&C Group's delivery capability, information security, and hosting resilience. The programme is delivered under enduring assurance arrangements introduced through MHHS, with delivery aligned to August completion target, external audit windows, and Performance Assurance Board (PAB) approvals.
• Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Since 2019, C&C Group has been ABPI's trusted technology and managed services partner for Disclosure UK, a national transparency platform. The partnership includes system design, development, operation, support, and BPO services such as query handling, manual data matching, and regulatory reporting. Contract has been repeatedly extended through open procurement, reflecting confidence in C&C Group's performance and reliability.
• RECCo (Retail Energy Code Company)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerC&C Group operates the Electricity Enquiry Service (EES) on behalf of RECCo, providing authoritative access to electricity address and MPAN data across GB. The company delivers complete end-to-end stewardship including secure infrastructure management, 24/7 operational support, incident management, system optimisation, and governance reporting.
• ElexoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerC&C Group acts as Technical Assurance Agent (TAA) for Elexon, providing independent oversight of system performance, data integrity, and operational compliance within the Balancing and Settlement Code framework. The company delivers structured assurance, risk assessment, and evidential reporting strengthening governance and regulatory accountability.
• ElectraLinkcoreTechnology or IntegrationUNITY Messenger DTN enables secure, reliable communication between participant systems and the Data Transfer Network (DTN) over ElectraLink's DTN infrastructure. C&C Group's platform is fully compliant with ElectraLink's Data Transfer Catalogue (DTC) standards for electricity market communications.
• Microsoft AzurecoreTechnology or IntegrationC&C Group's cloud-native platforms including UNITY are hosted on Microsoft Azure enterprise-grade infrastructure across UK South and UK West regions. The partnership provides high availability, data durability, disaster recovery capabilities, and secure access controls aligned with regulatory requirements.

Scale indicators17 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• CGI: Global IT services and systems integrator with a strong UK utility practice delivering regulated-market platforms and managed services. Broad incumbent whose utility IT and BPS services overlap with C&C's end-to-end platform-plus-BPO model across regulated sectors.
• IQVIA: Global healthcare data, analytics and technology provider — listed as a C&C customer but also a broad incumbent in regulated pharma/healthcare data services. Relevant as a competitor for the same transparency, disclosure and managed-data opportunities C&C serves via ABPI Disclosure UK.
• Capgemini: Global IT services and engineering firm with dedicated utilities and energy transition practices. Comparable broad incumbent with scale advantages that could pressure niche specialists like C&C on large UK regulated transformation programmes.
• NTT Data: Global IT services provider with utility-sector digital transformation capabilities in the UK and Europe. Comparable broad incumbent competing for the same regulated-utility IT and managed-service contracts C&C serves.
• Capita: UK-based IT outsourcing and business process services firm with regulated-utility and public-sector exposure. Comparable as a broad incumbent offering managed services and BPO in regulated environments where C&C delivers similar mission-critical support.
• Siemens: Siemens Smart Infrastructure and Siemens Energy deliver grid, metering and utility IT solutions globally. Broad incumbent providing overlapping capabilities to C&C in utility market operations, asset management and digital infrastructure.

Emerging players

• Smarter Grid Solutions: UK-headquartered smart grid and distributed energy management software vendor (now part of Mitsubishi Electric). Comparable emerging player operating in adjacent UK energy software niches that could expand into the same regulated-utility platform territory as C&C.

Direct peers

• Hansen Technologies: Global vendor of billing, customer engagement and meter data management software for utilities. Closely comparable in serving utilities' regulated billing, settlement and customer information system needs, overlapping with C&C's IGT itc, DUBS, IDNO itc and SWIM-Settlement offerings.
• KISTERS: German-headquartered provider of energy data management, settlement and metering software for utilities across Europe. Comparable as a vendor of regulated-utility software platforms serving similar use cases (settlement, billing, market operations) to C&C's UNITY and SWIM suites.
• ElectraLink: UK energy market data infrastructure provider operating the Data Transfer Network (DTN). Directly comparable as a regulated-utility data platform provider that C&C's UNITY Messenger DTN integrates with and competes alongside in enabling GB electricity market communications.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/c&c-group
• Instagraminstagram.com/candc_group
• Xx.com/candc_group

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

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 C&C Group Holdings