Suffolk Business Water Group

The Suffolk Business Water Group has been set up with funding from Anglian Water and Essex & Suffolk Water in response to the challenges of climate change. This is an issue of especial significance to Suffolk and the wider eastern region because of lower-than-national average rainfall, growing population and associated housing developments and nationally significant infrastructure projects, such as Sizewell C.

The Group will:

• Comprise the main business water users in the county, plus other key stakeholders, e.g. planning authority representatives, water retailer representatives, NGOs and more
• Operates as a brains’ trust for Anglian Water and Essex & Suffolk Water to inform and discuss relevant issues, update on non-domestic water projections, progress of new infrastructure projects
• Advocate for local supply chain and procurement, business partner opportunities and more
• Encourage business participants to act as information sharers with their supply chains and business customers to spread awareness of issues and facilitate knowledge transfer
• Share and encourage best practice for the reduction of water use by businesses
• Meet twice a year, but to be ‘on tap’ virtually between times
• Oversee a programme of business market research, case studies, site visits – ending each year with a business conference (organised by Suffolk Chamber)
• Act to galvanise business support for initiatives, including new water infrastructure projects, contribution to other lobbying asks etc

The group meets about twice per year and guest speakers are invited to address the group on pertinent issues. The group forms part of the policy and lobbying work of the Chamber, and outcomes of discussions often help feed into the engagement work with wider bodies such as DEFRA and other key stakeholders including the British Chambers of Commerce.

The next Water Group meeting: Date TBC

Previous Water Group meeting notes

For more information about the Water Group, contact policy@suffolkchamber.co.uk