I’m delighted to introduce this edition of our newsletter as your guest editor.
At Business Stream, we’re always looking for ways to make managing water services easier for our customers. One area where we know we can make a real difference is how we share information with you and how we present it – especially when it comes to your bills.
That’s why, as Head of Metering & Billing, I’m delighted to share that we’ll soon be launching a bill redesign project. Our aim is to ensure that our bills that are clear, easier to understand, and meet the needs of you and your teams. We’ve listened carefully to your feedback and know that
transparency and simplicity are key. With this bill redesign, we want to give you a bill that provides all the essential information you need but does this in a way that supports smarter decisions and smoother, more efficient processes.
Over the coming months, we’ll keep you updated as we progress to ensure that the resulting bill works for you. Following your feedback at our recent customer water forums, we won’t make any changes to your consolidated billing files as part of this change. This is just one of the ways we’re continuing to improve our service and strengthen our partnership with our Public Sector Scotland customers.
In this edition, you’ll find the latest updates from across our business – including results from our most recent Customer Satisfaction Survey, successful applicants for our latest Water Efficiency Fund initiative, new environmental projects we’re supporting with Ecologi and our ‘just launched’ Intelligent Water Management video guides to help you get the most out of our new reporting functionality.
Mark Doherty
Head of Metering & Billing
Advanced solutions for smarter savings
Our Solutions team is here to support you in reaching your financial and environmental goals, with smart, innovative technology and solutions designed to meet your specific needs.
In our June edition of the newsletter, we promoted our brand new solutions web page highlighting the full range of proactive solutions available to you - from automated meter reading and Power BI reporting to emergency planning and more. Take a look by clicking the 'Find out more' button below. And if you'd like to explore how these solutions could work for your business, your Account Manager is ready to help.
You can also view our Ancillary Services Rate Card with smart service offerings to help you reduce water use, reduce your carbon footprint and ultimately, save you money.
Great news – we’re making improvements to our bills over the next few months. Our brand new bill redesign project aims to refine how our bills are formatted and presented, creating a more customer-friendly design that makes it easy to understand and navigate. We’ll share more updates as the project progresses.
Making a difference to the Scottish Borders Council
Together with the Scottish Borders Council, we recently reviewed their automated meter reader (AMR) profiles which highlighted several sites showing continuous water usage. The
site with the most water usage was West Linton Primary School, where water was running at a rate of 280 litres per hour with no obvious explanation - equivalent to a full bath tub of water per hour. To demonstrate the value of AMR, we offered to carry out a high consumption investigation where we visited the school with the Council’s Climate Change Officer and Janitor, showing them what to look out for on their AMR data which led to them quickly identifying two overflowing toilet cisterns. These were isolated immediately, preventing further water waste until the cisterns could be repaired.
💡The Council saved £5,162 per year and avoided 2,452m³ of water going straight down the drain. That’s just about enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool!
Master your water data | Intelligent Water Management in action
We’re delighted to share three brand new Intelligent Water Management (IWM) navigation videos to help you get the most out of your water services.
Whether you're just getting started with the IWM reporting suite or looking to explore more advanced features, our new video guides walk you through everything you need to know - making it easier than ever to understand your water data, spot opportunities to save and take control of your costs.
From tracking usage trends to setting alerts and generating custom reports, each video is designed to show you what’s possible and how to use the platform with confidence. It’s all part of our commitment to help you make smarter, data-driven decisions about water efficiency and cost savings.
To get started, click one of the video thumbnails below.
Your feedback matters
We'd like to say a huge thank you to all customers who completed our second digital Customer Satisfaction Survey which was issued by Dodds and Law Research Associates during May.
We're pleased to share that the satisfaction score has increased from 83% in August 2024 (62 respondents) to 85% in May-June 2025 (53 respondents). We’ve gathered some really valuable feedback through the surveys including areas we can improve on. Key findings included:
Satisfaction is highest for ‘account management’ (70%), ‘customer service’ (64%) and ‘problem enquiry handling’ (57%). The same key strengths as 2024.
Dissatisfaction most common with ‘billing process’ (25%) and ‘problem enquiry handling (25%).
Increased use of ‘My Business Stream’ (92% up from 87%). Commonly to ‘view/pay bills’ or ‘submit meter readings’.
Since gathering the feedback, we've carried out an internal workshop to review your responses which we're using to improve and enhance the services we provide to you. We'll give you an update on the progress of these changes in the next edition of our newsletter.
We’re always open to hearing your ideas so please get in touch with your dedicated Account Manager if you have anything you want to raise.
Customer listening | Glasgow and Edinburgh Water Forums
Thank you to all the Public Sector Scotland (PSS) customers who attended our Glasgow and Edinburgh Water Forums earlier this month. The forums provided a chance to discuss the priorities, challenges and opportunities relevant to your organisations as well as the support Business Stream can and does provide. They also offered networking opportunities with other PSS colleagues and the wider Business Stream team. Thank you to those of you who also provided your feedback after each event – your input will be used to help us improve our future forums.
You're invited | Previous and upcoming webinars
This financial year, we're hosting new webinars which you’ll be invited to every quarter. Our latest webinar, which took place during June, explored Intelligent Water Management – Benchmark Reporting. If you were unable to attend, you can view a recording of this webinar and all of our previous webinars in the 'Useful Resources Library' on our website. Please use the button below and go to the 'Videos' drop down menu.
Exploring our ancillary services and, a Customer Spotlight with Scottish Fire and Rescue.
The webinar will explore more about the water and waste water ancillary services we offer including infrastructure upgrades and drainage solutions. And we're delighted to have a representative from Scottish Fire and Rescue joining us to share how they've utilised and benefitted from our ancillary services ranging
from automated meter reading and leak detection and repair, to water efficiency surveys and drainage condition assessments.
We’ll be in touch with an invite to our upcoming webinar later this week and we hope to see you there.
Vital funding for the Scottish public sector
As noted in our June newsletter - a huge thank you to those of you who applied for this year’s 2025/26 Water Efficiency Fund. We were thrilled to receive an abundance of exceptional applications showcasing diverse and impactful water efficiency initiatives within your organisations. We're delighted to announce that this year's £100,000 of funding has been awarded to 15 projects for organisations including
Scottish Fire and Rescue, Moray Council and the University of Strathclyde for projects like water audits and installation of tap aerators.
Jo Dow, Chief Executive of Business Stream said: "The number and quality of submissions received this year has been really encouraging. It highlights the commitment of public sector organisations to drive sustainability improvements and reduce their environmental footprint".
During August, our current batch of Modern Apprentices (MAs) graduated and we were delighted to welcome our next group of MAs to Business Stream. Over the next year, they’ll undertake their Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) while learning all about the world of work and we’re looking forward to watching them develop their skills and experience. Watch the video on the right to find out more about our Modern Apprentice Programme.
We also hosted this year’s group of Career Ready students for their four-week paid work placement during June and July. We loved having the students in our offices and being able to provide opportunities to build their confidence, skills and knowledge base with expert-led skills sessions, project work, CV and personal statement support plus 1-2-1 networking. Watch our video on the left to see how they got on.
Ecologi partnership | New projects
Since 2023, we’ve partnered with climate action specialists, Ecologi, to invest in and support climate projects - offsetting our carbon emissions as we continue to work towards our 2030 net zero goal. This year we’re delighted to be investing in two of Ecologi’s certified projects - a cleaner cookstove programme in Uganda and a large-scale peatland restoration project in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. You can read more about the projects below:
Cleaner Cookstoves in Uganda: Advancing Health, Livelihoods and Climate Resilience.This Gold Standard verified project supports the large-scale distribution of fuel-efficient cookstoves to households across Uganda. Designed and manufactured locally, the stoves reduce charcoal consumption by up to 55 percent, cutting emissions, easing pressure on forest ecosystems and improving household air quality.
Business Stream’s support is enabling greater access to this proven technology, helping reduce indoor air pollution, lower daily fuel costs and improve the lives of women and children who are often most impacted by traditional cooking methods.
Peatland Restoration in Indonesia: Protecting One of the World’s Most Critical Carbon Stores. Peatlands hold more carbon per hectare than any other terrestrial ecosystem. Once degraded, they become significant emitters. This verified project in Central Kalimantan restores damaged peatland through rewetting, revegetation and fire prevention, while working closely with local communities to create sustainable livelihoods. Verified under VCS (Verified Carbon Standard) and CCB (Climate, Community & Biodiversity) standards, the project delivers climate impact at scale by preventing carbon emissions, enhancing biodiversity and safeguarding one of the most ecologically important landscapes on the planet. Business Stream’s investment supports the long-term protection of this vital ecosystem.
Supporting the future workforce in Aberdeenshire
As part of our partnership with the social enterprise, Powering Futures, who bring together employers of today and the employees of tomorrow, we recently visited The Gordon Schools in Huntly to meet the latest cohort of Powering Futures students - helping to bridge the gap between education and real-world work experience. The partnership, which is now in its second year, allows us to support students
with hands-on learning, and develop their skills in innovation, problem solving, networking and sustainability.
We’re delighted to have recently launched our brand new LinkedIn newsletter – frequently sharing simple, effective ways to help you cut your water use, lower costs and boost sustainability, and keep up to date with the latest industry news. To sign up and join our mailing list – click the button below.
If you have any questions about your account, please speak to your Account Manager or Case Owner. You can also call us or send an email using the buttons below.
