Retail water supplier Brightwater has acquired the customer portfolio of Bristol-based competitor Blue Business Water, for an undisclosed sum. 

Musselburgh-based Brightwater, which supports SME customers, now has the sixth biggest customer-base in the Scottish retail water market. 

The company was set up in 2016 by its former managing director Rich Rankin – who continues to serve the business as a non-executive director – and Spotless Commercial Cleaning founder Roger Green. 

In exemption accounts filed for the period 1 January to 30 September 2021 the company said turnover and profitability had been significantly impacted by Covid-19 as businesses closed and water usage plunged.

As lockdown measures eased it appealed to companies to settle unpaid invoices and also put credit control systems in place to recover as much debt as possible.

Terms of a £425,000 government Covid support loan, which was due to be repaid in full by May 2022, have been renegotiated over four years.

Brightwater has appointed utilities veteran Tom Barberton as managing director. He has held leadership roles with a number of companies, such as British Gas, Total, as well as a number of B2B and B2C energy start-ups.

Mr Barberton was initially recruited in 2021 as group sales director, covering operations across Brightwater, Spotless, and its waste management subsidiary company Brightwaste. 

Brightwater chief executive Roger Green said: “Tom is a great fit for us as managing director. He has lived through the deregulation process in electricity and can bring his knowledge and leadership to Brightwater and the water sector.”

Tech sailmaker raises funds

Smart Green Shipping, a systems design and engineering company based in Dumfries has received £1.35 million to develop retrofit sails and technology for sustainable commercial vessels.

MOL Drybulk (MOLDB) and Scottish Enterprise are joint investors in the company that is steering a course to a demonstration FastRig wingsail later this year alongside its industry partners at Peel Ports Hunterston Port and Resource Centre (Hunterston PARC).

MOLDB is a 100% owned subsidiary of Mitsui OSK Lines, a shipping company headquartered in Japan with global operations.