Excellent 5* Rating
Independent UK water broker
Compare and switch your restaurant’s water supplier
Compare business water suppliers for restaurants and see how much switching could save.
Independent broker · Improved customer service · Switch handled for you
- Choose from up to 14 water suppliers
- Switch for better customer service
- UK-wide trusted supplier network
Home / Who we help / Restaurants
Last updated August 2026
Who we help
Business Water for Restaurants
A busy kitchen runs on water. Dishwashers, prep, cooking, ice and cleaning all draw on it through every service, and the bill quietly grows with covers.
You can switch retailer. Restaurants have had that right in England since 2017. Most never have. This page covers where restaurant water costs come from, how to switch retailer, and where overpayment usually hides.
| Wholesale supply | Comes from regional water companies (Thames Water, Severn Trent, Yorkshire Water, and others). |
|---|---|
| Contracting | Independent restaurants can contract directly with retailers, and groups can put every site on one central contract. |
| Biggest savings levers | Return to sewer allowances, tariff reviews and surface water drainage checks. |
| Water in the food | Water used in cooking, ice and steam leaves in the product rather than down the drain, which is what a return to sewer allowance accounts for. |
| VAT | Water supply is zero rated for most hospitality businesses. The rules sit in HMRC’s VAT manual for water and sewerage services. |
| Licensed retailers | Around 20 are licensed by Ofwat to supply non-household water. |
Where the money goes
Why restaurants pay more for water than they should
The usual story on a restaurant bill is that the site inherited whatever supply arrangement came with the lease and nobody has looked at it since the fit-out. The five checks further down are where that shows up.
Kitchen water use is intense and concentrated into service hours. Dishwashers cycle constantly, prep and cleaning run all day, and ice machines and steam ovens draw steadily in the background. A default commercial tariff prices all of it flat, with no attention to how the site actually uses water.
The wastewater side deserves the attention. A meaningful share of kitchen water leaves in food, ice and steam rather than down the drain, and billing that assumes nearly everything returns to the sewer overstates the sewerage charge month after month.
Where it shows up
The five areas restaurants overpay
Where restaurants overpay and why it matters.
Return to sewer allowance not applied
Water used in cooking, ice, steam and evaporation never reaches the sewer, yet default billing assumes most of it does. A corrected return to sewer allowance brings the sewerage charge in line with what the kitchen actually discharges.
Inherited supply arrangements from the lease
Many restaurants sit on whatever contract or deemed arrangement was in place when they took the unit. A supply that has never been chosen is rarely priced as if it had been.
Surface water drainage on the whole unit
Charged on the footprint by default, but how drainage is assessed depends on your regional wholesaler. Where yards or outdoor areas drain away from the public sewer, the charge can be challenged, and in many wholesaler regions rebates can be backdated.
Leaks and running equipment out of hours
A stuck urinal flush, a passing ballcock or an ice machine fault runs silently overnight when nobody is in. Comparing closed-day usage with trading-day usage on the meter catches it early.
Multi-site groups on separate default tariffs
A group running each restaurant on its own inherited tariff leaves money on the table, as retailers can discount on a single multi-site contract with one point of contact.
Results
Case studies
Recovered on historic surface water drainage charges that should never have applied.
Worth knowing
Leases, landlords and who holds the supply
Whether you can switch depends on who holds the supply. Where the restaurant has its own meter and its own account, the business is the customer and can choose its retailer. Where water is recharged by a landlord through the service charge, the landlord holds the contract and the conversation starts there.
Moving in is the moment to check. A unit taken over without agreeing a new contract sits on deemed rates, which are rarely the sharpest available. The official market rules for business customers are published by Open Water, the body that runs the market.
The market
Can restaurants switch water supplier?
Yes. England’s non-household water market opened to competition in April 2017 and Scotland’s opened in 2008, so every restaurant with its own supply can choose a different water retailer. Wholesale supply still comes from your regional water company; only the retailer (the company that bills you and reads your meter) changes.
The 12 retailers below are all licensed by Ofwat to supply non-household water. Pricing, service and sector experience vary from retailer to retailer.
Choose your route
Routes to procurement
Three ways restaurant operators typically bring a new water contract in. Each comes with its own trade-off between control, effort and how sharp the price lands.
Direct with a retailer
The restaurant signs straight with a licensed retailer. Best for a single site that wants a sharper rate. You handle the comparison and the switch yourself.
Group contract across sites
Groups can put every site on one central contract with one retailer. Efficient at volume, but each site is tied to whichever retailer the group has chosen.
Broker-led market test
A water broker compares the market for you, handles the paperwork and manages the switch from start to finish. Nothing changes in the kitchen.
Why choose The Business Water Shop
- Award-winning independent brokerage, not owned by or tied to any water retailer.
- Rated 5 stars on Google and 5 stars on Trustpilot by UK businesses.
- Experts with experience in business water for restaurants, cafes and hospitality.
- We compare quotes from up to 14 licensed retailers.
- We handle the whole switch, from the comparison and paperwork to the supplier contact.
- One point of contact for multi-property portfolios.
Questions
Restaurant water FAQs
Do restaurants pay business water rates?
Yes. A restaurant is a non-household customer, which is the open market we operate in. If your unit has its own meter and account, you choose the retailer.
What is a return to sewer allowance and does my kitchen qualify?
Sewerage is normally billed as a high percentage of the water you take in. Where a meaningful share of that water leaves in food, ice and steam rather than down the drain, the percentage can be corrected so you stop paying sewerage on water that never reached the sewer.
Our landlord recharges water through the service charge. Can we still switch?
Not directly, because the landlord holds the contract. It is still worth raising, since a landlord can switch the building supply and pass the better rate through the service charge.
Will switching disrupt service?
No. A switch is paperwork rather than plumbing. There is no interruption to supply, no engineer visit and nothing changes in the kitchen.
We just took over the unit. What are we paying now?
Until a new contract is agreed, a unit sits on deemed rates with the previous or default retailer. Deemed rates are rarely the sharpest available, so shortly after taking over is the best moment to compare.
Does a grease trap affect the water bill?
A grease trap is a compliance matter for what you discharge rather than a billing item, but poor grease management can lead to blockages and disputes with the wholesaler. Keeping it right protects you from costs beyond the bill itself.
How do I get a quote?
Send a recent water bill for the site. The SPID, annual volume and current retailer are all on it. We come back within two working days with an alternative quote and a flag if anything looks worth checking on allowances or drainage.
