What Market Operator Services Limited does

Market Operator Services Limited (MOSL) is the statutory Market Operator for England's non-household water market, a regulated, member-funded not-for-profit company that provides the shared infrastructure on which licensed wholesalers and retailers transact. It was established alongside the opening of the competitive non-household market in 2017 (incorporated 2014) and is headquartered in Southampton, England, with a staff of 101–250.

MOSL operates a centralised technology stack anchored by the Central Market Operating System (CMOS) for settlements, credit, and disputes; the Bilateral Hub for processing service requests between trading parties; and the Smart Meter Read Hub supporting the Strategic Metering Review. These platforms are complemented by an extensive suite of Power BI dashboards covering meter reads, service components, water efficiency, wholesaler charges, settlement runs, switching activity, and trade effluent, plus governance services such as the Market Performance Framework (MPF), market codes management, and market entry/exit assurance.

The business model is not commercial: MOSL is funded by a proportion of Operational Performance Standard (OPS) and Market Performance Standard (MPS) charges levied on trading parties, and reinvests surpluses into market improvement initiatives, including the £1.5M Market Improvement Fund. Its primary customer base consists of all licensed wholesalers and retailers in the England market, with downstream coverage extending to roughly 1.23 million metered water supply points and 3.85 million chargeable service components. Distribution is direct via the My MOSL portal, with no resellers or channel partners. Geographic scope is restricted to England, excluding Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Name

Market Operator Services Limited

Legal name

Market Operator Services Ltd

Website

https://mosl.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

MOSL is the statutory, not-for-profit Market Operator for England's non-household water market, providing shared settlement, bilateral-transaction, metering, and market-performance infrastructure used by all licensed water wholesalers and retailers serving business customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Member Funding: MOSL is a not-for-profit, member-funded organization. The organization is funded by a proportion of Operational Performance Standard (OPS) and Market Performance Standard (MPS) charges collected from trading parties (wholesalers and retailers).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

MOSL operates the centralized market infrastructure for England's non-household (business retail) water market, providing the CMOS central market operating system, the Bilateral Hub, Smart Meter Read Hub, and Market Performance Framework. The organization manages market codes, settlement processes, credit arrangements, disputes, and trading party assurance, and publishes a suite of Power BI dashboards that deliver market-wide analytics on metering, switching, supply points, and wholesaler/retailer performance.

Product overview

MOSL operates as the Market Operator for England's Non-Household Water Market, providing a centralized platform infrastructure for market operations. The core offering consists of the CMOS (Central Market Operating System), the Bilateral Hub, and the Smart Meter Read Hub, supported by the Market Performance Framework (MPF). These platforms are complemented by an ecosystem of Power BI dashboards (Meter Reads, Service Components, Water Efficiency, Wholesaler Charges, R-MeX, Settlement Run, Catchment, Electoral Constituencies, and Local Authority Districts) that provide market intelligence and analytics. Additional services include Market Codes management, Market Entry/Exit Assurance, the Market Improvement Fund grant programme, and Training and Guidance resources. The Market Insight section offers interactive maps and data services for market structure, functions, and environmental performance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CMOS (Central Market Operating System) Centralised market operating system that manages trading party operations, settlements, credit arrangements, dispute resolution, and market data for England's non-household water market. It is used by all licensed water wholesalers and retailers.
• Bilateral Hub Central platform enabling bilateral transaction processes between wholesalers and retailers, streamlining service requests and communications across the non-household water market.
• Smart Meter Read Hub Central hub for the management and processing of smart meter reads across England's non-household water market, supporting the Strategic Metering Review programme.
• Market Performance Framework (MPF) Reformed performance framework covering governance, non-financial tools, Key Performance Indicators, financial tools, and market indicators for trading party performance monitoring across the non-household water market.
• Market Codes Governance service maintaining Market Codes (including Baseline Statement) and managing the change process for consultations, pipeline changes, and non-code change requests across the non-household water market.
• Market Entry Assurance Process and documentation service that enables new trading parties to enter the non-household water market, covering eligibility, assurance documentation, and onboarding requirements.
• Market Improvement Fund Grant programme offering up to £150k per project from a £1.5m fund for initiatives that improve the non-household water market, facilitated on behalf of the Strategic Panel.
• Market Insight Dashboards Collection of Power BI dashboards (MPS, Water Efficiency, Supply Points, Switching, Metering, Catchment, Large SPID, Trade Effluent, Electoral Constituencies, Local Authority Districts, Wholesaler Charges, Service Components, Meter Reads, Settlement Run, R-MeX) providing market intelligence to trading parties and the public.

Quantifiable outcome

• Bilateral Transactions Programme delivered efficiency benefits 70% higher than anticipated
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Department for Education (DfE)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023MOSL partnered with the Department for Education to understand customer segments within the business retail market and promote water efficiency. The partnership combined central market data with DfE data to generate views of school water usage at national, school, and pupil levels. The DfE is responsible for 23k schools and 9.3m water-using pupils in England and Wales.
• Wave UtilitiesminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerWave Utilities served as sponsor and applicant for the Automated Water Efficiency Audits project and REDUCED project under the Market Improvement Fund.
• Anglian Water ServicesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnglian Water Services served as applicant and sponsor for Project Discovery, aiming to develop a national consumption benchmarking model.
• Yorkshire WaterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerYorkshire Water partnered on Consumption Awareness and Benchmarking project and Business voids research under the Market Improvement Fund.
• Business StreamminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBusiness Stream led the RWG Wholesale Tariff Simplification Development project and Business voids research partnership with Yorkshire Water.
• Thames WaterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThames Water served as sponsor for the RWG Wholesale Tariff Simplification Development project under the Market Improvement Fund.
• Portsmouth WaterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPortsmouth Water served as sponsor for the DEV-Pool software service project under the Market Improvement Fund.
• OccuTrace Ltd.minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerOccuTrace Ltd. served as delivery partner for the Meter Condition Assessment project, investigating 2,000 supply points with zero-consuming meters.
• IDenteq LtdminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerIDenteq Ltd served as applicant for the NAPS Data Quality Cleanse project targeting New and Partial supply points for data quality improvement.
• Isle UtilitiesminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerIsle Utilities served as applicant for the REDUCED project, creating a searchable online portal for emerging water efficiency technologies.
• Leeds Institute for Data Analytics (LIDA)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLIDA served as delivery partner for the Consumption Awareness and Benchmarking project with Yorkshire Water.
• Economic InsightminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerEconomic Insight served as delivery partner for the Business voids research project.
• C&C Group HoldingsminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerC&C Group delivered the DEV-Pool software service for developers to request water services from water companies, leveraging SWIM-Pool technology.
• Shaw Trust Accessibility ServicesminorOthersShaw Trust conducted accessibility audits of MOSL's website against WCAG 2.1 A and AA criteria in June 2023.
• WaterwiseminorOthersMOSL supports Waterwise's Come Rain or Shine campaign focusing on water-smart innovations and water security.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• PJM Interconnection: PJM is a US Regional Transmission Organization that operates the wholesale electricity market and settlement systems across multiple states. It is comparable to MOSL as a market operator running central settlement, performance, and data systems, but at vastly greater scale and in a wholesale (rather than retail) context.
• National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO): NGESO is the GB electricity system operator, running the real-time balancing mechanism and longer-term network planning. It is a broader incumbent than MOSL — operating a much larger, more capital-intensive infrastructure footprint — but it shares the structural pattern of a designated, monopoly infrastructure operator for a regulated UK utility market.
• ISO New England: ISO-NE runs the New England wholesale electricity markets, including settlement, capacity auctions, and market monitoring. Comparable to MOSL as a designated market operator, though at much larger scale and with a wholesale (rather than retail non-household) focus.
• ERCOT: ERCOT operates the Texas electricity market, including settlement, reliability coordination, and market data services. It is a broad incumbent peer — same fundamental business of being a designated market operator for a regulated utility market, with very different scale and wholesale focus.

Regional players

• Nord Pool: Nord Pool is the leading European power exchange, running day-ahead and intraday electricity markets across the Nordics and Baltics. It is a regional peer to MOSL — a designated market exchange/operator for a regulated utility market — but in a different geography and wholesale electricity rather than retail water.
• EPEX SPOT: EPEX SPOT operates the day-ahead and intraday power spot markets across most of Europe. It is a regional peer in the same designated-market-operator category as MOSL, but operating in a different geography (continental Europe) and a wholesale electricity market rather than a retail water market.

Direct peers

• Xoserve: Xoserve is the UK gas market's central data and settlement service provider, processing transportation charging and supply-point data for the GB gas retail market. Like MOSL, it is a designated, industry-funded body operating the central IT platform that all gas shippers and suppliers depend on.
• Elexon: Elexon operates the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) systems for the GB electricity market, performing an almost identical role to MOSL but for power. Both are designated, member-funded market operators providing central settlement, performance monitoring, and code governance for a regulated retail/whole market.
• RECCo (Retail Energy Code Company): RECCo administers and develops the Retail Energy Code that governs UK retail electricity and gas markets. It is the closest direct analogue to MOSL's market-codes and Market Performance Framework functions, providing a comparable code-change, consultation, and compliance regime for energy trading parties.

Others

• Energy Networks Association: ENA is the UK industry body representing electricity and gas transmission and distribution network operators, working closely with Ofgem on codes, data, and market frameworks. Comparable to MOSL in the sense of being an industry-funded, governance-oriented body shaping a regulated UK utility market, but it does not operate the central settlement system itself.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mosl_
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/market-operator-services-limited-mosl-
• Instagraminstagram.com/mosl.water

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments1 record

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

Frequently asked questions about Market Operator Services Limited