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...The water companies tend to have corporate structures with multiple layers, many of which exist to raise finance....
...“To achieve this water companies have proposed a record £96bn of investment — a near-doubling of current levels.”...
...Rishi Sunak has dispatched his business adviser to grapple with the crisis facing Thames Water, in a sign of jitters inside government about the potential collapse of Britain’s largest water utility....
...Margaret Thatcher privatised the water sector in the 1980s and the forced renationalisation of Thames Water would confirm in the minds of voters that it had been a costly failure....
...But Gonzalo Delacámara, director of the Center for Water and Climate Adaptation at IE University, said the robustness of Spain’s water system so far had allowed a certain “cognitive dissonance”....
...Many of Thames Water’s 16mn customers might feel the same way about the state of water 35 years after Margaret Thatcher’s government privatised England’s water companies....
...I once asked a director of one of the main water companies what input they received from the political level....
...The board of Thames Water, Britain’s largest water company, was locked in crisis talks on Wednesday after shareholders refused to confirm they would provide about £3bn of fresh equity that is necessary for...
...This is a big test of UK capitalism. Get Thames Water right and the case for private ownership of utilities will be enhanced....
...Thames Water also requires a further £2.5bn before 2030 to fund its investment plan and maintain assets. Ofwat has told the board to “pursue all options to seek further equity”....
...Yet the challenges confronting the likes of Thames Water and many others among the UK’s 17 suppliers of water and sewerage services do smack unnervingly of the issues that banks faced in the period running...
...A period of temporary public stewardship is generally framed as a worst-case scenario in discussions about the future of Britain’s biggest privatised water utility....
...Only about 15 per cent of the country’s water resources have been developed. Almost all farmers depend on rain, as they are not able to store rainwater or pump water from rivers....
...However, it needs billions of pounds more investment to address sewage discharges, water leakage, and storage to prevent potential water shortages....
...Another indebted rival, Southern Water, secured a new backer in 2021. Frankly, Thames’ board lacks the restructuring nous to handle this end-game....
...and mistrust of England’s privatised water system....
...The ongoing saga involving the UK’s largest water company took a new turn yesterday after Thames Water said its shareholders were unwilling to stump up £500mn of fresh equity....
...Not so many may be aware of what a big guzzler of natural resources it is....
...Concerns over the future of Britain’s biggest water provider reached a peak this week when investors refused to inject £3bn of much-needed equity, despite nearly a year of negotiations with the water industry...
...Money is more important than water to the daily functioning of financial markets, so the GFC had a sense of urgency lacking in the Thames Water crisis....
...One of the holding companies that owns Thames Water on Friday said interest payments due earlier this week on a £400mn bond “have not been paid” as it issued a “formal notice of default”....
...In a statement on Friday, Thames Water said Montague’s resignation from Kemble was a “personal decision”, and that he “believes the time is right solely to focus on fully supporting the board and executive...
...Beijing has poured money and resources into its military....
...The union that represents the biggest group of members in the USS called on Thursday for the renationalisation of Thames Water....
...A third of Thames Water’s sewage monitors do not work properly, according to new analysis of Environment Agency data by the Liberal Democrats, compared to 15 per cent of monitors across the industry....
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