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About Clear Business Water: business water retailer review

Clear Business Water Limited. Verastar Limited (the Sale, Greater Manchester group trading as Clear Business); the ultimate registered PSC of the Verastar group is Vitruvian Partners LLP.

England & Scotland

At a glance

Clear Business Water is Verastar's licensed water retailer, supplying small businesses in Scotland since 2013 and England since the market opened in 2017.

Last reviewed 10 June 2026. Facts are drawn from Clear Business Water's own published pages, Companies House and the MOSL dashboard snapshot (March 2026). Verify anything you intend to rely on against the current source.

Clear Business Water: key facts

Parent and ownership
Verastar Limited (the Sale, Greater Manchester group trading as Clear Business); the ultimate registered PSC of the Verastar group is Vitruvian Partners LLP
Founded
2013: Clear Business Water Limited was incorporated on 6 March 2013 (Companies House SC444366) and granted its WICS water and sewerage licence on 21 June 2013; group parent Verastar Limited dates from 13 November 1998.
Headquarters
Sale, Greater Manchester (Verastar group HQ, No. 1 Dovecote, Old Hall Road, M33 2GS); the licensed water entity's registered office is Aurora, 120 Bothwell Street, Glasgow, G2 7JS
Leadership
Lee Hull, Chief Executive Officer of Verastar (trading as Clear Business)
Companies House
SC444366
Regions served
Scotland and England. Licensed in Scotland by WICS since 21 June 2013 (general water and sewerage licence; it also took a transfer of licences from Aimera Ltd on 21 July 2021), and in England under an Ofwat water supply and sewerage licence (WSSL) granted ahead of the April 2017 market opening. The English offer is pitched at small business customers; no Welsh supply offer is advertised.

Services Clear Business Water publishes

Taken from the retailer's own published service pages.

  • Business water and wastewater retail supply for small businesses in Scotland and England
  • Published Default Tariff for deemed and out-of-contract customers, set in England per the Ofwat Retail Exit Code, with a separate Scottish default rate schedule effective 1 April 2026
  • Free meter-reading site visits for external meters after transfer
  • Customer Zone self-serve portal: view up to 36 months of invoices, submit meter reads, set up or amend Direct Debits, make payments
  • Deemed contract and gap site registration support
  • Charity and CASC water charges exemption scheme support, Scotland only
  • Multi-service bundling with the wider group: business energy, broadband, digital voice, mobile, card payments and business insurance from one provider
  • WhatsApp messaging and live chat support, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm

Clear Business Water deemed and out-of-contract rates

When a site takes supply without a negotiated contract, for example after moving in or letting an agreement lapse, the retailer bills on its published deemed or out-of-contract terms, which differ by wholesale region and are updated each charging year. We never republish the figures: they change annually, so the only reliable source is the current document.

Clear Business Water publishes its deemed and out-of-contract terms in its own charges documents, linked below. Check the document for your wholesaler region and charging year before comparing it against a negotiated offer.

Clear Business Water published charges

Who Clear Business Water are

Clear Business Water Limited (Companies House SC444366) is the licensed water retail arm of Verastar Limited, the Sale, Greater Manchester group that trades as Clear Business. The water company was incorporated on 6 March 2013 and granted a general water and sewerage licence by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland on 21 June 2013. It then received an Ofwat water supply and sewerage licence (WSSL) ahead of the English business water market opening in April 2017, allowing it to supply businesses in both Scotland and England. In April 2019, Ofwat appointed it, after a competitive process, to take on the customers of Aquaflow Utilities, the English market's first retailer failure.

The retailer is built around small businesses and a multi-service model. The Verastar group, founded in 1998 and led by chief executive Lee Hull since March 2023, consolidated its kinex, Unicom and Woav brands under the Clear Business name and supplies water alongside business energy, broadband, digital voice, mobile, card payments and insurance. The company states that more than 55,000 Scottish small businesses have switched to it since 2013, that it supplies more than 25% of the Scottish business market, and that the wider group serves over 135,000 customers with more than 160,000 essential services. Day-to-day account management runs through its Customer Zone portal, with phone support on 0333 014 3131 plus WhatsApp and live chat.

For out-of-contract sites, Clear Business publishes its deemed contract arrangements openly: deemed customers are supplied on its standard terms at its Default Tariff, which in England follows the structure Ofwat sets under the Retail Exit Code, with a separate Scottish default rate schedule effective from 1 April 2026. On service performance, CCW's Business Customer Complaints report for 2024-25 placed Clear Business Water among the poorer performers of the large and medium retailers, recording 12.7 complaints to CCW per 10,000 supply points and 211.8 complaints per 10,000 supply points across all channels, and noting backlogs in processing customer queries alongside increased debt recovery activity.

Strengths

  • Licensed in both Scotland (WICS general water and sewerage licence granted 21 June 2013) and England (Ofwat WSSL granted ahead of the April 2017 market opening), so businesses with sites in both nations can use one retailer.
  • Significant Scottish scale: the company states more than 55,000 Scottish small businesses have switched since 2013 and that it supplies more than 25% of the Scottish business market (company figures).
  • Trusted by the regulator in a market failure: Ofwat appointed Clear Business Water in April 2019, after a competitive process, to take on customers of Aquaflow Utilities, the English market's first retailer failure.
  • Part of the Verastar group (founded 1998), offering water alongside energy, broadband, mobile, card payments and insurance on a single supplier relationship.
  • Publishes its deemed and default tariff arrangements openly, including an England default tariff page referencing 14 English wholesalers' charging documents and a Scottish default rate schedule.

Considerations

  • CCW's Business Customer Complaints report 2024-25 records 12.7 complaints to CCW per 10,000 supply points (third highest among large and medium retailers) and 211.8 complaints per 10,000 supply points across all channels (second highest); CCW said the retailer 'has faced challenges in processing customer queries promptly, leading to a backlog' and noted increased debt recovery contacts.
  • The proposition is aimed squarely at small businesses; the website does not advertise a dedicated large multi-site, corporate portfolio or national consolidated billing service for water.
  • No water-specific value-added services such as leak detection, trade effluent management, AMR or smart metering, or water efficiency audits are listed on its water pages.
  • Supply is limited to Scotland and England; no Welsh offering is advertised.

Frequently asked

Clear Business Water: questions answered

Who owns Clear Business Water?

Clear Business Water Limited is owned by Verastar Limited, the Sale, Greater Manchester group that trades as Clear Business. Companies House lists Verastar Limited as a person with significant control of the water company, alongside Ares Management Limited (both notified 21 January 2020). Further up the chain, the ultimate registered person with significant control of the Verastar group is Vitruvian Partners LLP, recorded against the group holding company Etihad Topco Limited.

Who runs Clear Business?

Lee Hull is the chief executive of Verastar, the group behind the Clear Business brand. He was named CEO in March 2023, replacing Chris Earle, having joined the business in 2020 after senior roles at TalkTalk Business, Virgin Media Business, Intercity Technology and UKFast. Companies House shows Lee Robert Hull as an active director of Verastar Limited, appointed on 31 October 2020.

What are Clear Business Water's deemed or out-of-contract rates?

If Clear Business supplies your water without a signed contract you are a deemed customer, supplied on its standard terms and charged its Default Tariff. In England the Default Tariff follows the structure set by Ofwat under the Retail Exit Code, with different treatment for sites using under and over 0.5Ml a year. Clear Business publishes an England default tariff pricing page and a Scottish default rate schedule (effective 1 April 2026); we link to the published page from this page, so check the current documents there for the actual figures.

Can Clear Business supply my region?

Clear Business Water supplies business customers in Scotland and England. It has held a general water and sewerage licence from the Water Industry Commission for Scotland since 21 June 2013, and it was granted an Ofwat water supply and sewerage licence (WSSL) ahead of the English market opening in April 2017. Its English offer is aimed at small business customers, and no Welsh supply offer is advertised on its website.

How do I contact Clear Business?

Call Clear Business on 0333 014 3131, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, for water, energy, telecoms and payments queries. Business insurance customers call 0161 968 2030 (9am to 5.30pm). The company also offers WhatsApp messaging, live chat, and its Customer Zone self-serve portal, where customers can view up to 36 months of invoices, submit meter readings, manage Direct Debits and make payments online.

Is Clear Business suited to multi-site businesses?

Clear Business pitches its water service at small businesses rather than large multi-site portfolios. Its website leads on savings for small business customers and on bundling water with energy, broadband, mobile, card payments and insurance from one provider. It does not advertise a dedicated national multi-site, corporate portfolio or consolidated multi-region water billing service, so larger estates should check the fit, and the deal on offer, before consolidating a portfolio with it.

What happens if Clear Business Water exits the market?

Your water supply would continue and you would be moved to another licensed retailer under the market's interim supply arrangements; in England, Ofwat allocates a failed retailer's customers under the Interim Supply Code. Clear Business Water has been on the receiving side of this process: in April 2019 Ofwat appointed it, following a competitive process, to take on the customers of Aquaflow Utilities, the English retail water market's first supplier failure.

How many businesses does Clear Business Water supply?

Clear Business says more than 55,000 Scottish small businesses have switched to it since 2013 and that it supplies more than 25% of the Scottish business market. Across the wider group, Clear Business reports over 135,000 customers taking more than 160,000 essential services. These are company-published figures from clearbusiness.co.uk rather than independently audited market shares, so treat them as the retailer's own claims.

How we work with Clear Business Water

We are an independent broker, not the retailer. When you tender through us, Clear Business Water is quoted against the whole licensed Open Water retailer panel, with the wholesale charge, retailer margin and our margin shown separately on every offer. No retailer pays for placement on this page and this profile is not a ranking. Our guide to how to compare business water suppliers covers the criteria we score offers on, and our step-by-step guide to switching business water supplier walks through the CMOS process, with no interruption to supply.

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