27 Aug 2026
Image description: Blue and white Thames Water logo on side of van A board in waiting The consortium of creditors pursuing a rescue bid for Thames Water has announced four proposed non-executive directors who would take control of the company’s board if its acquisition and recapitalisation plan is approved. London & Valley Water (L&VW), […]
05 Aug 2026
Photo credit: Gio L A group of Labour MPs and regional mayors has urged the prime minister to turn failing water companies into not-for-profit cooperatives, presenting the idea as a middle path between full nationalisation and the status quo. The proposal, set out in a report from the Good Growth Foundation, a think tank […]
23 Jul 2026
Photo credit: Luis Tosta The consortium of creditors that has effectively controlled Thames Water since its shareholders wrote down their investment in 2024 has put forward a revised rescue proposal aimed at averting nationalisation by the new Andy Burnham administration. Under the plan, ministers would be offered a golden share in the company, described by the […]
15 Apr 2026
Image description: People walking past the Palace of Westminster in the rain. Photo by Heidi Fin on Unsplash Calls for a referendum on water company ownership Two campaigners who prominently featured in the recent Channel 4 docudrama Dirty Business have launched a petition calling for a referendum on water company ownership. As reported in the BBC, Ash Smith and […]
02 Oct 2024
The Guardian reports that the new Labour government used “economically illiterate” analysis paid for by water companies in order to argue against the nationalisation of the sector in England. In an official letter recently sent to anti-sewage groups, civil servants cited a paper by the Social Market Foundation as a reason to avoid nationalisation as part of […]
06 Sep 2023
Professor Sir Dieter Helm sets out the arguments against nationalisation and the status quo. Mention Thames Water (“Thames”) and eyes tend to glaze over. How could the great promises of privatisation have come to this? Across the industry, most try to keep their distance in case the Thames experience undermines their own reputations. On most […]
04 Jul 2019
‘Water UK has sent a submission to the Labour Party on their ‘Democratic Public Ownership’ consultation. The submission also examines the Labour Party’s ‘Clear Water’ proposals for nationalising the water and sewerage industry in England. Our view is that, if implemented, the proposals could seriously damage the provision and quality of water and sewerage services […]
19 Dec 2018
New research shows water companies in England & Wales outperform comparable water sectors in Europe Water companies in England and Wales perform better than their main European counterparts, according to a new report examining the quality of water and wastewater utilities in six European countries over the past 28 years, based on six key service performance […]
