Latest news with #FeargalSharkey
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Enough is enough. Let Thames Water go bust
There comes a point in every corporate disaster when enough is enough and the plug has to be pulled. One such is Thames Water, which has sailed rudderless from one mishap to the next for over a decade now, with still no resolution in sight. Surprise, the latest hope of salvation – £4bn of new equity from the US private equity outfit KKR – has failed as comprehensively as all previous attempts to give Thames a viable future. After months of due diligence, KKR has concluded what must have been obvious all along – that the political and regulatory risks around Thames Water are just too big to be worth the candle. Water companies have in recent times managed the near-impossible feat of usurping the position once occupied by banks as the most hated corporate sector in the land. Campaigners such as the former Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey have raised the profile of the industry to the point where there is nowhere left to hide. Rising bills in combination with deteriorating water standards have made Thames and its nine, fellow privatised water companies into symbols of wider national failure. If KKR needed any further persuading of the folly of involvement with this nightmare of a company, the lambasting Thames recently received in the House of Commons for sewage spills and retention bonuses must surely have been the final straw. There's a price for everything, it is sometimes said, but maybe not with this industry, where to be an investor or lender is to be seen as the unacceptable face of capitalism in modern form. Good luck to the other bidders said to be circling Thames now that KKR is out of the way. They will no doubt eventually come to the same conclusion. In its current incarnation, Thames is holed below the water line. It's hard to see why anyone would want to take the tiller. The clamour for retribution is now so great as to render almost any form of investment completely unviable. I was an enthusiastic supporter of water privatisation when it was first mooted in the late 1980s. Back then, water standards were even worse than they are today. You couldn't even trust the drinking water, which would regularly fail European standards, let alone Britain's beaches or rivers. As publicly owned utilities, water companies had to take their place in the pecking order of public spending priorities, and it was inevitably a lowly one. Political pressure to keep bills low further starved the industry of the resources needed to meet increasingly demanding standards. For ministers, privatisation served a double purpose; not only did it promise much needed private capital for infrastructure renewal, it also meant that they would finally be shot of a seemingly constant source of political complaint. So desperate was the Treasury to get the water companies off the books that they were flogged off pretty much debt free, and in some cases with overflowing 'green dowries' to make them more attractive to investors. Sadly, it has not worked out well. The few water companies that have remained publicly listed enterprises haven't fared too badly, but the ones subsequently bought by private equity – including Thames Water – have been pillaged to destruction. Stripped down to the last lightbulb by rapacious financiers, they increasingly cut corners and are today in all kinds of trouble. What goes around comes around, and the private ownership that was once seen as the solution is now condemned as a major part of the problem. Attempts to find a future for Thames Water within the current framework of debt and equity ownership have gone about as far as they reasonably can. Any further machinations merely prolong the agony, and are really only about salvaging at least something from the wreckage for current senior creditors, as well as lining the pockets of a veritable army of advisers and lawyers. Most of them deserve little sympathy, even if the original sin at Thames was committed by a generation of owners who have long since disappeared with their bags of swag. Many will take positive pleasure in the likes of Elliott Management, a vulture capital fund that specialises in buying up distress debt and squeezing it dry, losing their shirts. Their only motivation is value extraction. They cannot be allowed to dictate the future course of bills and regulatory obligations. I no longer buy the argument that putting Thames into 'special administration' – a form of insolvency procedure intended to ensure protection for public services – would send a bad message at a time when the Government is looking to raise hundreds of billions of pounds from private investors for Britain's energy transition. Rather the reverse; actually, it would say yes, we want private investment, but on fair terms that don't seek to rip the heart out of essential public services. Since I cannot put it any better myself, let me just repeat what a reader said on a rival news site: being open for business does not mean being open to exploitation. The bottom line is that in order to properly meet its social and environmental obligations, Thames needs to be made largely loan-free, wiping out the near £20bn of debt that it is currently struggling to service. The arguments in favour of this approach are now so overwhelming that it is hard to see why ministers are still hesitating. From a political perspective, it would be extremely popular, which is why Nigel Farage's Reform UK has latched onto it as gainful, populist fodder. That doesn't necessarily mean it is the right thing to do; often, the easy, popular course turns out to be the wrong one. But what are the alternatives? The 30pc haircut to more junior debt holders currently under discussion is very unlikely to be sufficient. Despite initial fears that it would cost the taxpayer an arm and a leg, the most recent example of special administration – Bulb Energy – has worked out reasonably well. Bulb was one of a number of fly-by-night retail energy suppliers that found its relatively generous fixed rate deals rendered hopelessly uneconomic by soaring wholesale prices. When first put into special administration, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimated that based on energy prices at the time, the bailout could cost the taxpayer an eye-watering £6.5bn. But that tally has steadily eroded, and with further recoveries from Octopus Energy – which acquired Bulb's customer base – the ultimate cost to the taxpayer is expected to be negligible. Nationalisation without compensation is always a process fraught with legal difficulties. Historically, it has tied presiding governments up in knots for years afterwards. But how else is the never-ending saga of Thames Water ever to be resolved? Once freed from the ball and chain of excessive debt, Thames Water could easily be sold back to investors, and with requisite reform to regulation, could then perfectly adequately serve all three interest groups: investors, customers and environmentalists. Time to bite the bullet.
BBC News
29-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Hemel Hempstead chalk stream rerouted at Gadebridge Park
A rare chalk stream has been rerouted to improve wildlife habitats and reduce the risk of localised flooding. The River Gade, at Gadebridge Park in Hemel Hempstead, has been returned to its natural course after it was moved to supply water to the former Bury Mill. The river restoration project in the Hertfordshire town was completed by the Environment Agency (EA) who worked with Dacorum Borough Council and Affinity Bromham, Liberal Democrat portfolio holder for neighbourhood operations at Dacorum, said: "The return of the River Gade to its natural course not only restores an important ecosystem but also enhances the park experience for our residents and visitors." The council was previously told the Gade was one of the "very few" chalk streams that exist around the artificial channel that had been cut caused the river to become disconnected, which the EA said led to water quality issues and limited new footbridges, a gauging station, and an ultrasonic structure that allows fish and mammals to move freely were installed as part of the project. Former Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey has been involved in a long-running campaign to preserve chalk "We've destroyed our chalk streams," says SharkeyListen: Sharkey's 'river ramble' with Clare BaldingThe Chiltern Society said chalk streams played host to water vole, endangered in the UK, and brown was created along the banks to provide habitat for different species including trout, water vole and Wilson, area director at the EA, said: "Getting to this stage marks the huge collective effort of a large number of people."I'd like to thank everyone involved for their perseverance and commitment to bringing such a complex and ambitious project to completion." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Business Mayor
25-05-2025
- Health
- Business Mayor
Feargal Sharkey reveals prostate cancer diagnosis and urges men to get checked
Feargal Sharkey has urged men to get tested for prostate cancer after revealing he was diagnosed with the disease after a GP visit for a sore throat. The environmental campaigner and former lead singer of the Undertones said the health problem was 'resolved' a year ago. Speaking to the Daily Express, he said: 'About a year and a half ago, I randomly went to see my GP with a sore throat. 'So my doctor, being the beautiful, wonderful, awkward, cantankerous old man that is went: 'Oh Feargal, by the way, you're 65 now, I'm going to run the full battery of tests.' 'Two days later, it turns out, I began a journey which led to the [diagnosis] of prostate cancer. Thankfully, that's all now been resolved a year ago. But here we are, had it not been for that random visit to my local GP, I would never have known that I was at that point carrying prostate cancer, and if it had not been seen to, it could have been a very different ending and a very different outcome to my life. 'The reason I'm very happy to talk about it is because if there's one man out there over the age of 45 go and see your GP. Go and get the blood test done.' Earlier this year, prostate cancer became the most commonly diagnosed type of cancer in England, surpassing breast cancer for two consecutive years. In 2023 there were 55,033 prostate cancer diagnoses. On Sunday, the former US president Joe Biden was diagnosed with an 'aggressive form' of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. Sharkey urged men to get a blood test for the disease, which can be treated easily in its early stages. 'Now, for one in eight of you, you will be put in the same journey I've had and it's quite astonishing to think that in this country right now, one in eight men have prostate cancer,' he said. 'Most of them don't even know it. So go and have the blood test and if you're lucky, you'll walk away.' He also expressed his 'admiration' for the six-time Olympic gold medallist Chris Hoy, who disclosed in October he has 'two to four years' left to live after being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer which had metastasised from his prostate. 'I have such unbelievable admiration for Chris Hoy over the last couple of months. If you end up where Chris is, well you're now looking for a very different outcome and not the one you were expecting for your life, my friend. So, for a blood test – go get it done right now.'
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Feargal Sharkey reveals prostate cancer diagnosis
Feargal Sharkey has revealed he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The A Good Heart singer has urged men everywhere to get tested, sharing that he was given the news after visiting his GP about a sore throat. The environmental campaigner and former lead singer of punk band the Undertones said the health problem was "resolved" a year ago. Speaking to the Daily Express, he shared: "About a year and a half ago, I randomly went to see my GP with a sore throat. "So my doctor, being the beautiful, wonderful, awkward, cantankerous old man that he is, went: 'Oh Feargal, by the way, you're 65 now, I'm going to run the full battery of tests.' "Two days later, it turns out, I began a journey which led to prostate cancer. "Thankfully, that's all now been resolved a year ago. But here we are, had it not been for that random visit to my local GP, I would never have known that I was at that point carrying prostate cancer, and if it had not been seen to, it could have been a very different ending and a very different outcome to my life." Sharkey was the lead vocalist of the Undertones in the 1970s and 1980s, and charted as a solo artist with hits such as You Little Thief in the 1980s.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Feargal Sharkey reveals prostate cancer diagnosis and urges men to get checked
Feargal Sharkey has urged men to get tested for prostate cancer after revealing he was diagnosed with the disease after a GP visit for a sore throat. The environmental campaigner and former lead singer of the Undertones said the health problem was 'resolved' a year ago. Speaking to the Daily Express, he said: 'About a year and a half ago, I randomly went to see my GP with a sore throat. 'So my doctor, being the beautiful, wonderful, awkward, cantankerous old man that is went: 'Oh Feargal, by the way, you're 65 now, I'm going to run the full battery of tests.' 'Two days later, it turns out, I began a journey which led to the [diagnosis] of prostate cancer. Thankfully, that's all now been resolved a year ago. But here we are, had it not been for that random visit to my local GP, I would never have known that I was at that point carrying prostate cancer, and if it had not been seen to, it could have been a very different ending and a very different outcome to my life. 'The reason I'm very happy to talk about it is because if there's one man out there over the age of 45 go and see your GP. Go and get the blood test done.' Earlier this year, prostate cancer became the most commonly diagnosed type of cancer in England, surpassing breast cancer for two consecutive years. In 2023 there were 55,033 prostate cancer diagnoses. On Sunday, the former US president Joe Biden was diagnosed with an 'aggressive form' of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. Sharkey urged men to get a blood test for the disease, which can be treated easily in its early stages. 'Now, for one in eight of you, you will be put in the same journey I've had and it's quite astonishing to think that in this country right now, one in eight men have prostate cancer,' he said. 'Most of them don't even know it. So go and have the blood test and if you're lucky, you'll walk away.' He also expressed his 'admiration' for the six-time Olympic gold medallist Chris Hoy, who disclosed in October he has 'two to four years' left to live after being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer which had metastasised from his prostate. 'I have such unbelievable admiration for Chris Hoy over the last couple of months. If you end up where Chris is, well you're now looking for a very different outcome and not the one you were expecting for your life, my friend. So, for a blood test – go get it done right now.'
