Merged Scottish water authority in hunt for agency to develop brand

Scottish Water, a new publicly owned water body for Scotland to be formed next spring, is understood to be seeking an advertising agency to develop its brand identity.

Three existing water and sewerage authorities – North of Scotland Water Authority, West of Scotland Water Authority and East of Scotland Water Authority – are to be merged next year as Scottish Water and will function as the commercial public authority for water in Scotland. The merger forms part of a restructure introduced in September through the Water Industry (Scotland) Bill.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive says: “The Scottish Water transition team is looking into a number of projects. The issue of corporate identity is one of them, but at the moment it is very early days for any specific details.”

At present, the three water authorities, which took control of Scottish water five years ago, act as monopolies and consumers in Scotland receive water bills from one of the three authorities.

It is understood that the creation of Scottish Water will allow new entrants into the market which will be able to take over customer accounts, while using the Scottish Water infrastructure. The legislation is expected to even out the large imbalances in water charges across Scotland, particularly for consumers in the north, who have experienced high bills because of major spending on upgrading old facilities.