Bosses insist bonuses are justified for running ‘hair raising’ Thames Water May 13, 2025 Bosses at Thames Water have defended taking hefty bonus payouts as Thames Water battles to stay afloat and pollution incidents soar. Chief executive Chris Weston and Chair Sir Adrian Montague are spearheading a turnaround at the crisis-hit utility, which narrowly avoided bankruptcy earlier this year via a £3bn emergency loan from creditors. It was revealed [...]
UK’s ageing water network would take 700 years to replace at current rate April 25, 2025 Britain’s ageing water network would take 700 years to replace if work continues at the rate seen since privatisation, according to Whitehall’s spending watchdog. The National Audit Office (NAO) on Friday released an extensive investigation into the performance of the the three water regulators, Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and the Environment Agency, and Defra. [...]
Pennon Group records loss after parasite scandal March 31, 2025 Pennon Group, the British utility firm which owns South West Water, said in a trading update this morning that the costs of last year’s Brixham water supply scandal had forced it into a loss in the second half of last year. The water company said lower customer demand and inflationary cost pressures were offset by [...]
Thames Water’s finance chief quits as firm continues trying to find a buyer March 28, 2025 Thames Water’s finance boss has quit midway through a key restructuring of the heavily indebted utility giant. Chief financial officer Alastair Cochran told the firm that he was stepping down on Friday morning. His sudden departure comes as Thames Water continues to try to find a buyer for the company to help steady its finances. Thames Water is England’s biggest water firm, with about [...]
Yorkshire Water forced to pay out £40m after ‘serious failures’ March 20, 2025 Yorkshire Water will have to pay out a £40m “enforcement package” to address a series of “serious failures” in its maintenance of sewage networks. The water supplier will pay out £36.6m over the next five years after the water watchdog Ofwat found repeated failures to properly invest in infrastructure. Environmentally sensitive areas will be targeted [...]
Thames Water says it has received six takeover offers March 18, 2025 Thames Water has said it has received six takeover offers and hopes to agree a deal by the end of June. The offers come in response to an equity raise process launched by the UK’s biggest water supplier last summer. Crisis-hit Thames Water has been battling to stave off nationalisation amid debts of more than [...]
Thames Water asks watchdog to let it charge even higher bills February 14, 2025 Thames Water is asking the competition regulator to allow it to charge customers even more over the coming years than had previously been granted. The company has already been allowed a 35 per cent rise in consumer bills over the next five years by water regulator Ofwat, after Thames had previously lobbied for a 59 per cent hike. Now, it wants [...]
Thames Water investigated over failure to finish 100 environmental schemes on time February 12, 2025 Thames Water is facing an investigation from the industry regulatory after failing to deliver more than 100 environmental improvement schemes on time. Ofwat said on Wednesday it had opened an enforcement case into the embattled utility to determine whether it had breached its obligations. Thames Water committed to deliver 812 schemes as part of the [...]
Water bills to rise by an average of £123 January 30, 2025 Households can expect their annual water bill to rise by an average of £123 from April, more than the amount announced by the regulator last month, the sector’s industry body has said. According to Water UK, the average bill in England and Wales will jump from £480 to £603 in the year from 1 April, [...]
United Utilities and Pennon to hike dividends in line with inflation as customer bills rise January 29, 2025 United Utilities and Pennon Group plan to increase dividends as consumers grapple with significant bill increases over the next five years. The water firms on Wednesday both said dividends would rise in line with inflation each year until 2030, following Ofwat’s final determination in December. The regulator’s ruling, which sets customers’ bills for the next [...]