Ministers are willing to let to bills rise to keep Thames Water afloat as it seeks billions of pounds of fresh investment to fund a turnaround. The ailing company featured heavily in the weekend papers, which also reported that Thames has hired experts at Teneo, the advisory firm that managed the collapse of Bulb Energy, to help it avoid a similar fate. The news came after several rowers in the losing Oxford team were struck down with E Coli in the lead up to Saturday’s boat race on the River Thames.