Thames sets out three-point turnaround after ‘unacceptable’ year

Thames Water’s chief executive has branded the organisation’s performance last year as unacceptable as the business missed 23 performance commitments and ranked bottom of the C-Mex table.

Sarah Bentley said despite key workers keeping essential services running throughout the pandemic, the broader business performance in the year to 31 March 2021 was “unacceptable and we are behind expectations”.

Bentley, who joined as chief executive during the period, described the results as very disappointing to only meet 26 of the 49 performance commitments during the first year of AMP7.

Thames netted a penalty of around £50 million for the year 2020/21.

Bentley said the business had seen “pockets of success” including meeting its leakage targets for the second year in a row but acknowledged Thames was only at the beginning of a long journey to turnaround performance.

Thames ranked bottom of the customer service C-Mex score for 2020/21 with an overall score of 72.91 out of 100. Its complaints were higher than the previous year, mostly related to bills. The organisation said it has created a new bill system for metered customers, a proactive care team to contact billpayers who have repeat issues and enhanced webchat offering extra ways to contact the company.

Leakage reduced 5.4 per cent over the year, which keeps the company on track for its plan of 20 per cent reduction during AMP7. Average per capita consumption (PCC) rose across the region with more people working at home and using gardens more – a trend seen by all companies during lockdown.

Overall Thames reduced its number of serious pollution incidents by 10 per cent but missed its target.

With seven changes to the executive team since Bentley joined, the company is enacting a three-part turnaround plan that Bentley said will likely take eight years starting with fixing the basics.

The company intends to get performance back on track with strong leadership and total transparency. Immediate priorities will focus on asset health to run existing pipes and treatment works as efficiently as possible.

The second step will be to raise the bar by transforming critical areas of the business investing in customer services, people, operations, assets and strategic planning. Thirdly the company will shape the future with its 2050 vision that includes being part of the energy transition.

Bentley added that after several years of underperformance, the company will only regain customer trust by delivering on the promises it has made.

“We’re absolutely determined to learn from our mistakes and to improve,” Bentley said.

“I was brought in during the year to turn Thames Water around. To do this properly and in the right way for our customers, communities and the environment is going to be a massive undertaking and there are no quick fixes. Our priority is to transform critical areas of the business and we’re investing in customer service and operations so we can make real progress. We’re in this for the long-term and are absolutely determined to put things right so that we deliver for customers and improve our environment now and for future generations.”