Greene King says self supply water has ‘exceeded expectations’

Pub chain Greene King has said that its self supply water has “exceeded expectations” following the company’s pioneering application for a Water Supply and Sewerage Licence (WSSL).

The company has announced savings of 140,000m3 of water a year since acquiring the licence, the equivalent of 676,313 pints.

Greene King was the first of 1.2m eligible organisations to apply for and obtain a WSSL. The aim behind the move was to gain complete control over the company’s water consumption and cost.

Claire Yeates, director of Waterscan said: “At this stage in its development, self-supply has exceeded even our own expectation in terms of both the level of interest and benefits to participants. There have been five applicants and approximately 6,500 Supply Point IDs switched to self-supply in the first year alone, representing over 5% of total switches.

“When looking at the main market segments self-supply is relevant to, over 27% of switches have been to self-supply, a remarkable figure for a new concept. Based on the conversations that we are currently having, we expect interest in self-supply to continue to rise as organisations find the approach to be a good solution to their issues in the new market and an effective way to improve water management.”

Alongside Greene King, Marston’s, Whitbread and Coca Cola European Partners have all been granted a WSSL.

Gavin Worthington, senior purchasing manager at Greene King, said: “We are looking forward to building on this successful experience to date, which we believe delivers competitive advantage in both corporate social responsibility and commercial terms.

“We have seen reports of a slow customer response and questionable impacts of the open water market, but this has not been our experience. While self-supply was a leap into uncharted waters, it has delivered better than expected results in a short timeframe.”