Thames Water chief govt Chris Weston has apologised to prospects and promised to show the failing utility firm round.
He instructed Sky Information: “I am sorry that the service that the purchasers obtain… it isn’t the place we wish it to be, everybody may be very dedicated when it comes to making an attempt and sorting it out.
“So, completely I am very sorry concerning the service some individuals obtain, however it would completely get fastened.”
It got here after a tense appearance in front of MPs from the Setting, Meals and Rural Affairs choose committee throughout which his personal bonus of £195,000 – which he acquired after simply three months within the function – was known as into query.
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Chris Weston seems earlier than the Setting, Meals and Rural Affairs choose committee. Pic: PA
The parliamentary listening to coincides with spiralling payments for purchasers, who face paying lots of of kilos extra for his or her water provide over the approaching years.
He defended the payout, saying he had joined the struggling firm in January 2024 as a result of it “issues to society”.
He added: “I feel that throughout the first three months, I did make a distinction. I began to place in place the brand new organisation construction, I began to provide individuals confidence and reassurance about how proud they could possibly be of the job they did and what we had been getting down to do.”
Thames Water prospects have confronted important service disruption lately, together with a boil water notice in Bramley, close to Guildford, final summer season and a 40% rise in sewage spills in 2024.
It has additionally struggled to lift funding, repay its debt pile, which now stands at £19bn after an emergency loan prevented it from operating out of cash and coming into state management.
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Additionally showing earlier than the committee was Thames Water chairman Sir Adrian Montague, who tried to reassure MPs that they might get the agency’s funds again on monitor regardless of current moments of close to collapse.
He mentioned: “The actual fact of the matter is, as we have famous on a number of events, Thames within the final yr has come very near operating out of cash totally.
“There have been occasions within the final yr that we had 5 weeks’ liquidity – and operating a £20bn company on 5 weeks’ liquidity, actually, it is hair-raising.”
