Thames Water has appointed business veteran Sir Adrian Montague as chairman because the troubled utility supplier seeks to shore up public and investor confidence.
The previous chairman of Anglian Water and insurance coverage large Aviva, Sir Adrian will change present chairman Ian Marchant, who introduced in April that he would stand down on the finish of this month.
His appointment, first reported by The Instances, comes simply days after chief govt Sarah Bentley stood down with out clarification this week, leaving a management vacuum on the firm and heightening considerations about its viability.
Following Ms Bentley’s departure Sky Information revealed that ministers and water regulator Ofwat have been contemplating contingency plans within the occasion of the corporate collapsing, together with successfully taking it into state management by means of a particular administration regime.
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Sir Adrian mentioned: « It’s a privilege to affix the Board of Thames Water and comply with Ian as chairman.
« I very a lot loved my earlier position within the water business and am happy to be re-joining the sector at a important time given the challenges it at present faces.
« I now stay up for working with the Board and Government workforce and Thames Water’s regulators and buyers, to give attention to the corporate’s turnaround plan and its future financing wants to make sure it delivers on its duties to serve its prospects and communities nicely and profit the atmosphere. »
Sir Adrian, 75, has expertise tackling the results of earlier failed privatisations, having been appointed chairman of British Vitality following a monetary disaster on the nuclear operator, and deputy chairman of Community Rail following the collapse of Railtrack.
His quick duties at Thames Water will probably be to reassure ministers and Ofwat about its monetary place and encourage shareholders to make good on a dedication to present £1bn in contemporary fairness capital.
The corporate mentioned a yr in the past it deliberate to lift £1.5bn from shareholders to fund investments in « leakage and river well being », with £500m already dedicated and one other £1bn « topic to sure situations ».
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Thames Water mentioned this week it’s working « constructively » with shareholders, together with Canadian and British pension funds and Chinese language and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth automobiles, to safe the funding.
The corporate says the extra capital will probably be used to fund an £11bn program of works to handle leaks and air pollution by 2025, however there are experiences that billions extra will probably be required to satisfy regulatory necessities.
Concern over Thames Water noticed shares in three listed water corporations fall, with United Utilities down 3% and Severn Trent and Pennin, which serves prospects within the south west, each down round 5% in mid-afternoon.
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In an announcement Ofwat mentioned: « General, the sector is continuous to draw worldwide capital and is particularly engaging to long run buyers comparable to pension funds. Certainly, there was a further fairness injection of round £2bn since 2020, with corporations appearing to strengthen their monetary place.
« Ofwat will proceed to maintain corporations’ monetary resilience below shut scrutiny and work with corporations to make sure they take motion to make sure that they’ve the monetary backing to ship for patrons and the atmosphere. »
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