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CCW, the Consumer Council for Water, has now published its reports on complaints both from domestic and business customers for 2025-6. Putting these together gives a good view of how business water retailers are performing and strips out the major underlying differences in different water networks.
CCW’s approach to assessing business retailer performance takes into account absolute numbers of complaints. The large business water retailers are providing services over differing networks, which have their own performance issues. For example, the problems at Thames Water and South East Water are well known.
Castle Water leads among major retailers
The most useful way to look at complaint performance for business water retailers is relative to the number of complaints received from domestic customers who are served directly by the large water networks. The complaint performance of the large water retailers in 2025-6 based on CCW figures, when looked at as a percentage of the number of complaints received by the English water companies from domestic customers shows that Castle Water has the best performance of the 4 large water retailers, and has the second-best performance overall of the 6 major retailers:
Retailer complaints as % of complaints to Wholesalers
Derived from CCW figures
| Source for Business | 8.6% |
| Castle Water | 50.8% |
| Scottish Water Business Stream | 51.9% |
| Water 2 Business | 75.3% |
| Wave | 101.2% |
| Water Plus | 193.4% |
Independent expertise at scale
As the UK’s largest independent water retailer, Castle Water has the scale to support business customers of all sizes, combined with being fully independent of the water companies. Castle Water has invested in new systems specifically designed for the business water market and has the best meter reading performance of any large water retailer.
Frequently asked questions
What is CCW and what can they help with?
The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) is the independent representative of water customers across England and Wales. After you have completed Stage 1 and Stage 2 with us, CCW can look at your complaint and may be able to help resolve it. Please note that CCW may not be able to assist with every type of complaint.
How do I make a complaint to Castle Water?
The quickest way is by phone or web chat — complaints raised this way are dealt with immediately wherever possible. You can also log in to the customer portal to complete a complaints form online, or write to us at: Complaints, Castle Water Limited, 1 Boat Brae, Rattray, Blairgowrie, PH10 7BH.
How long does Castle Water take to respond to a complaint?
In line with the Code of Practice, we aim to give a full response within 10 business days of receiving your complaint at Stage 1. If a complaint goes to Stage 2 (an appeal), our Executive Complaints Team aims to resolve it within 10 business days. If resolution takes longer at either stage, we’ll explain why and keep you updated regularly.
When can I escalate my complaint to CCW?
You can contact the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) after you have completed both Stage 1 and Stage 2 of Castle Water’s formal complaints procedure. Completing our process first gives us the opportunity to fully review your concerns and helps avoid unnecessary delay if you decide to seek independent support.
If you contact CCW before Stage 1 and Stage 2 have been completed, CCW will ask you to return to Castle Water so we can finish looking into your complaint. We recommend allowing our complaints process to run its course first, as this is usually the quickest way to reach a resolution and ensures any later independent review has the information it needs.
What happens if I contact CCW before completing Stages 1 and 2?
If you contact CCW before our formal complaints procedure has finished, they will ask you to come back to Castle Water so we can complete our review. To help avoid delay, we recommend completing Stage 1 and Stage 2 with us before asking CCW to look at your complaint.
Is there an ombudsman for business water customers in England?
No. There is currently no ombudsman for non-household business water customers in England.
