Thames Water partners with Qualco UK to advance customer engagement and affordability management

QUALCO UK Limited (Qualco UK), part of Qualco Group, today announced a strategic 3-year partnership with THAMES WATER UTILITIES LIMITED (Thames Water), the largest water utility in the UK, serving 16 million customers across London and the Thames Valley. The partnership aims to strengthen customer engagement, affordability management and operational efficiency through modern, data and technology-driven capabilities.

As part of its ongoing transformation, Thames Water is evolving how it engages with customers, with a strong focus on affordability, transparency and positive customer outcomes. To support this, the company is investing in advanced technology and analytics that enable fair and consistent customer treatment, while reinforcing operational resilience and long-term sustainability.

Following a comprehensive formal bid and Invitation to Negotiate process, Thames Water selected Qualco Collections and Recoveries platform (QCR), a data-driven solution for managing customer accounts and decisioning, integrated with Qualco ExtraCollect, a proven capability for overseeing third-party account handling and treatment strategies, to support a more structured and efficient approach to customer account management.

Delivered as a hosted, plug-and-play solution, the platform integrates with Thames Water’s core billing environment, with Atos providing specialist SAP integration expertise to ensure alignment with Thames Water’s enterprise architecture. The solution replaces legacy tooling with real-time prioritisation and automated workflows. As part of the programme, predictive modelling will be applied to assess its impact on prioritisation and treatment effectiveness, supporting early outcome measurement and a clear roadmap for continuous performance optimisation.

Qualco UK will further enhance the QCR deployment through its integrated panel management services, delivered via its proprietary ExtraCollect platform. To date, ExtraCollect supports 22 clients and manages over £10 billion in portfolios across the UK credit industry, excluding Thames Water. This combination strengthens Thames Water’s ability to support customers facing affordability pressures, optimise social tariff strategies and demonstrate compliance with evolving regulatory expectations, while safeguarding operational performance.

With Thames Water embarking on a multi-year transformation programme, this investment provides a strong foundation for delivering improved customer outcomes, operational efficiency, and long-term financial sustainability.

“This initiative forms part of our wider programme to improve how we support customers, particularly those facing affordability challenges,” said Nina White, Director of Income, at Thames Water. “By investing in modern, integrated technology, we are strengthening fairness, transparency and efficiency across our operations.”

“We are proud to partner with Thames Water on a programme that brings together technology, operational capability and regulatory discipline to address one of the most demanding customer environments in the UK,” said Spyros Retzekas, Deputy CEO at Qualco Group.

“Affordability and fair customer treatment are core operational priorities,” said Christian Jacob, Managing Director at Qualco UK. “This partnership supports Thames Water in strengthening customer engagement through modern, data-driven decisioning, while delivering the efficiency, transparency and control required in a highly regulated environment.”