Buying for the future

United Utilities is committed to providing the very best commercial and procurement solutions in undertaking our licensed obligations for the delivery of Water and Wastewater services.

Additionally we have regulation bodies such as the Drinking Water Inspectorate, Environment Agency and European Commission placing demands and conditions to increase our environmental performance and operational efficiency, when we are buying for the future.

Every five years we, together with all the other water companies in England and Wales, submit a business plan to Ofwat outlining the investment we want to make to ensure our network of pipes, sewers, water and wastewater treatment work and reservoirs deliver outstanding service to our customers. Whilst this plan is important, our commitment is to deliver excellence in procurement solutions all year, every year.

That is why we have embedded not just a category management approach to buying the goods work and services we require as a business, but have introduced market leading thinking to continually challenge and test our buying decisions through our Market Engagement Methodology (MEM). This doesn’t just focus on the new assets we build as we move through those 5 year cycles, but on every penny we spend on things like technology, people and energy.

Not only has our approach to ‘buying for the future’ been endorsed by leading cost consultants and academic establishments, in 2018 United Utilities won an award at the annual Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) Supply Management Awards for this approach. You can read more on this here.