10 Years of Keeping Data Flowing for Severn Trent Water, and a Perfect Goodbye

It’s a rare and powerful thing to celebrate the end of a long-term partnership on your own terms, and with a shared sense of accomplishment. We recently said a proud goodbye to a client we’ve worked with for a decade, Severn Trent Water. 

The Beginning: A Purpose-Driven Partnership

Our story began a decade ago with a rewarding project, to help Severn Trent Water support their most vulnerable customers. Working in close partnership with Coventry Citizens Advice and Severn Trent’s team, we developed a bespoke application system to facilitate the Big Difference Scheme. This initiative provides crucial social tariffs for households with limited incomes, and we were honoured to be at the heart of making that process as smooth and efficient as possible.

The system was a robust, secure, and intelligent platform that:

• Validated Data: It ensured that every application was complete and accurate from the start, reducing administrative burden and speeding up the process.

• Calculated Tariffs: The system automatically calculated recommended social tariffs based on the customer’s financial details, ensuring consistency and fairness.

• Enabled Seamless Data Sync: This was the crucial nerve center of the operation. Our platform facilitated a secure two-way data sync. We would transfer the validated application data to Severn Trent Water’s internal systems, and in return, we would receive updates on the status of each claim. This real-time feedback allowed us to keep caseworkers informed and customers supported throughout the entire process.

A Decade of Evolution

For 10 years, our partnership was defined by continuous improvement. We didn’t just build the system and walk away; we provided ongoing support, conducting regular reviews and updates. Each time, we further customised the application to match Severn Trent’s new processes and evolving needs, ensuring it remained a critical, effective tool for their team.

The Transition: Putting the Client First

The landscape began to change when Severn Trent Water embarked on a significant internal upgrade, migrating to the Kraken utilities management platform.

Given our knowledge of Kraken and its powerful capabilities, when Severn Trent approached us to adapt our existing system to integrate with Kraken, we had a crucial, and ethical, conversation. We could have taken the project, a short-term win for us. However, our evaluation of the new platform’s functionality made it clear: Kraken had powerful, built-in capabilities that could completely handle the application and data sync processes we had been providing.

It was our professional, moral, and ethical duty to be transparent. We advised Severn Trent Water that the best long-term solution for them was to transition away from our bespoke system and fully embrace the features of the Kraken platform. This decision would empower them with greater control, efficiency, and a more streamlined operation.

The Final Chapter: A Smooth Handover

From March to June 2025, we actively supported Severn Trent Water in their migration, ensuring a smooth and successful transition, culminating in the official decommissioning of our services at the end of June 2025.

Our story with Severn Trent Water is an example of what we believe a true partnership looks like… and that partnership is why we’re called withdigital. It’s not about creating “vendor lock-in,” but about working with our customers to build a foundation of trust – providing the best possible solution, even when it means recommending an exit.

We are incredibly proud of the work we did together, and even prouder of the decision we made to help them move on to their next chapter.

We wish the Severn Trent team continued success and look forward to seeing them thrive with their new system.