Business Stream has published the first annual progress report for its Customer Care Charter, reporting gains in customer satisfaction, service transparency, water efficiency, and environmental performance across the past year.
The UK water retailer introduced the Charter in 2025 after colleague and customer engagement. It sets out 12 commitments across four areas: Simple and Easy, Trust, Experience and Expertise, and Care. The first progress report shows the company has met 20 of the 30 measures established to track progress, with a further six in progress.
Jo Mayes, Customer Services Director at Business Stream, said: “As a customer-centric business, we wanted our Charter to be much more than a set of promises.”
She added that the aim was to create “a framework that genuinely helps hold us to account, drives continuous improvement and provides greater transparency around the service we deliver.”
The report says Business Stream achieved a 91% customer satisfaction score and maintained its “Excellent” Trustpilot rating. The company is also rolling out live webchat and has improved its My Business Stream digital portal, giving customers more control over managing water use.
The Charter report links service standards with sustainability performance. Since 2020, Business Stream says it has helped customers save 7.9 billion litres of water and delivered more than £15m in water and energy efficiency savings through data analytics, water-efficiency services, and smart reporting tools. It also reported more than 1,000 community support hours and a 66% emissions reduction against its 2018-19 base year.
Water efficiency, infrastructure resilience, and climate adaptation are taking a larger role in commercial planning. The cost and operational effects explored in Climate disruption hits UK businesses show how environmental exposure now reaches into revenue, infrastructure, supply reliability, and operating cost. Water sits directly within that risk picture.
Commercial water service is no longer only a utility bill. It affects cost control, carbon reporting, site resilience, ESG commitments, and business continuity. Companies with large estates, production sites, hospitality venues, healthcare premises, campuses, or retail portfolios can carry significant water exposure. Leaks, inefficient use, poor data, or billing errors can create avoidable cost and disruption.
Business Stream’s Charter model is notable because it ties commitments to measurable progress. Customer charters can become broad statements if they are not tracked. Progress reporting gives customers and stakeholders a clearer view of delivery and gives the company a framework for identifying where service still needs improvement.
Digital service will be a central part of that improvement. Portals, smart reporting, and webchat can reduce friction when they give customers useful data and quick support. Poor digital service can frustrate customers, particularly when companies are managing multiple sites or complex accounts. Stronger platforms should help customers identify usage patterns, spot anomalies, and take earlier action.
The sustainability savings claimed by Business Stream show how data can change utility management. Water efficiency depends on measurement, maintenance, behaviour change, and timely intervention. Smart reporting and analytics can turn consumption from a background cost into an active management area.
The report also shows how customer experience and ESG are becoming more closely connected. Companies increasingly expect suppliers to reduce friction, lower cost, support environmental targets, and improve transparency. A water retailer that can demonstrate service quality and resource savings strengthens its role as an operational partner rather than a billing provider.
Business Stream’s next challenge will be sustaining progress against the remaining measures and showing that service improvements translate into lasting customer outcomes. In a sector where trust can be fragile, annual reporting creates a useful discipline: promises become easier to assess when progress is measured publicly.
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