Thames Water has appointed a new Director to its Executive team to expand its renewable energy business and open-up more green spaces for customers to enjoy across London and the Thames Valley. Tony Vasishta will start on July 6 as CEO of Ventures, a new business unit that will unlock further benefits to its customers, communities, and the environment. Opportunities include solar power, energy storage, harnessing the heat from the waste network to provide clean energy, driving value from the estate and creating new outdoor public spaces, like the award-winning Walthamstow Wetlands in East London.  Sarah Bentley, Thames Water CEO, said: “Thames Water is already the largest producer of renewable energy within the water industry and we have some very exciting opportunities to grow this business in the coming years, helping us achieve net zero by 2030. “I’m delighted Tony Vasishta will be joining the Executive team to grow our renewable energy and property ventures, and open up new green spaces for our customers to enjoy. He has a successful track record of starting, creating and growing businesses from inception to maturity. His extensive track record and experience are just what we need as we look to develop our Ventures business and provide our customers with self-generated clean, green energy.”

Poo power, together with wind and solar, currently generates around a quarter of the company’s electricity needs, saving around £40 million in energy costs each year. The company is due to announce its roadmap to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030 in the summer.

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South West Water report says now is the time to create a “green jobs” G7 legacy

09th June 2021    Pennon, the South West’s biggest employer and parent company of South West Water, has written a report on behalf of the Great South West calling for the region not to be overlooked in the Government’s plans to level up the country. The report demands a “green jobs boom” to stop the brain drain of talented young people leaving the region.

The call comes in a report timed to coincide with the G7 summit being held in St Ives later this week, which looks at the economic challenges and opportunities facing our region.

The report, Levelling Up the Great South West: A G7 Legacy, analyses every parliamentary constituency in Devon and Cornwall and says that they deserve as much political attention as those in the electoral battleground of the so-called “Red Wall” in the North of England and Midlands.

The new ‘levelling up analysis’ in Pennon’s Great South West report finds that:

• Devon and Cornwall trail the rest of the UK in terms of productivity – Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has the lowest productivity of any UK subregion, and Devon is the seventh lowest productivity area in the UK.
• On a ranking of all parliamentary constituencies in England and Wales by productivity, 13 out of 18 Devon and Cornwall constituencies are in the lowest third, with St Ives, Torridge & West Devon, South East Cornwall, North Cornwall and Torbay in the bottom 25 in the whole of England and Wales.
• The working age population of the region is declining as a share of the total, with an exodus of young people to larger urban areas, especially London. 70% of 15-17 year olds in Cornwall say they will need to leave the county in order to obtain a good job.
• Many parts of the region have high levels of empty shops, a key indicator of the health of the high street, reflecting low spending levels and lack of investment. In Camborne & Redruth the rate of empty shops is 38% higher than the England and Wales average, in Torbay it is 30% higher, and in Plymouth, Sutton & Devonport it is 43% higher.

The new figures point to some of the biggest economic challenges facing England’s two most south-westerly counties. Yet the report says that with the right investment and support the Great South West has huge potential too. The combination of the natural environment and environmental science specialisms in the region means Devon, Cornwall and the wider South West could set its sights on becoming Britain’s greenest regional economy, turning global concerns over sustainability into locally-led economic growth. Click here to read more