Latest news with #SevernTrent
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Sinkhole in Lady Bay causes 'severe delays' to bus services
A bus operator has said it expects "severe delays" on a number of services after a sinkhole opened up in a City Transport said the Green 11, 11A and 11C services could not serve any stops in Trent Boulevard, Lady Bay, Nottinghamshire, and diversions were in operator added the road was closed for "emergency carriageway repairs" until further County Council said the authority was working with Severn Trent and investigations were ongoing. A spokesperson for the council added that the road remained closed and apologised for any inconvenience Trent has been contacted for comment.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Water industry rich list revealed: how bosses were paid £278m in 11 years as sector faces overhaul amid concern over soaring bills and sewage leaks
Fat cat water company bosses have earned £278m over more than a decade, as hosepipe bans multiply and an independent commission has today called for an overhaul of the privatised industry. Executive pay figures obtained by the Daily Mail show salaries, pensions, benefits and bonuses earned by 57 chief executives and chief finance officers at Britain's 11 major water firms over 11 financial years from 2015. Over a tenth of the overall sum was paid to one CEO alone - Severn Trent's Liv Garfield, who received nearly £30.9m. And, of the four water firms which have brought in hosepipe bans after the driest spring in 123 years, Yorkshire Water paid £15m to successive CEOs Richard Flint and Liz Barber. No executives at struggling Thames Water, which is implementing restrictions in four areas and last week announced losses of £1.65bn in the year to March, made the top 10 of the 'rich list', compiled by the Sewage Campaign Network from public annual reports. This is because of a regular change of bosses through the 'extremely stressed' company's boardroom – but over £26m was paid to 11 different executives. At Southern Water, which announced a hosepipe ban on Wednesday, nearly £18.7m was paid to eight executives. Its biggest earner, former boss Ian McAuley, received over £6m. Mr McAuley also received £1.4m while chief executive of South West Water in 2015-16. The company's latest annual report published last week showed it nearly doubled the current chief executive's pay package last year despite a government ban on bonuses. Lawrence Gosden received £1.4m – comprising of £691,000 under a 'two-year long-term incentive plan' (LTIP), on top of fixed pay of £687,000. The company insisted the extra pay was not a bonus. The 'staggering' figures can be revealed as Environment secretary Steve Reed is to promise 'root and branch' reform and replace existing regulator Ofwat, admitting current regulation 'has failed customers and the environment'. In his response to today's Independent Water Commission's report, Reed is to pledge customers will 'never again face huge shock hikes' to their bills after average rises of 25pc last year. Private water companies, many owned by foreign investors and private equity firms, have come under sustained criticism for performance on leaks and sewage dumping as bills soar. Serious pollution incidents rose by 60pc last year. Prof Becky Malby, of the Sewage Campaign Network, said of the pay figures: 'It's unbelievable that a service which is a monopoly industry is creaming off this much for its chief executives and chief financial officers. 'The outgoing chief executive of the NHS earned £270,000 a year when it is a complex and difficult organisation to run.' Meanwhile, Lib Dem environment spokesman Tim Farron said: 'These figures are staggering and people will be rightly furious that these execs are lining their pockets as water bills skyrocket and their companies destroy our local environment with filthy sewage.' The Sewage Campaign Network's rich list can be as the Independent Water Commission, headed retired civil servant Sir Jon Cunliffe, published a scathing report, recommending new legislation and tighter regulation but stopping short of taking the industry back into public ownership. The Sewage Campaign Network - backed by academics and campaigners including Feargal Sharkey - has put together its own 'People's Commission' report into the water industry, calling for measures including renationalisation. The campaign said Sir Jon's report 'fails to deliver an ambitious transformation of water' and that 'fundamental problems' remain. It said: 'Privatisation is more expensive than public ownership - debt is much more expensive, servicing overseas financial interests is expensive. Currently 21-53% of our water bills are used to pay off water company debt.' The campaign added: 'No amount of restructuring regulation will enable government to manage the water companies' primary motive which is profit, and financial return to shareholders.' Last week, it emerged the water industry watchdog warned six firms not to raise directors' salaries to get around a sweeping bonus ban. Ofwat said it would be 'watching closely' after barring United Utilities, Thames Water, Wessex Water, Anglian Water, Southern Water and Yorkshire Water from making performance-related payouts. Since they were privatised debt-free in 1989, the utilities have paid out £85 billion in dividends and are now drowning in £60billion of debt, while household bills have almost doubled in real terms. Customers face hikes of up to 53 per cent before inflation over the next five years to pay for infrastructure repairs. In a speech in February, Sir Jon said: 'It would be very difficult to say now that we have a water sector in which the public have trust.' A Water UK spokesperson, representing the private water firms, said: 'Executive pay in the water industry is independently determined by remuneration committees, which abide by laws and regulations. 'Water companies are focused on investing a record £104 billion over the next five years to secure our water supplies, end sewage entering our rivers and seas and support economic growth.' Who's who... the highest-earning water bosses as revealed by campaigners Liv Garfield, chief executive of Severn Trent Water since 2014, has earned £30.9m since 2015. The 49-yar-old became the youngest female CEO of a FTSE-100 company when she was appointed to the top job at Severn Trent in 2014, aged 38. She received a CBE for services to the water industry in 2020 – the same year Environment Agency figures showed the equivalent of 64 years' worth of raw sewage was dumped into rivers and streams. Ms Garfield was previously an executive at BT, where we CEO of its Openreach division between 2011 and 2013. In 2013, Fortune Magazine identified her as 'one of the world's fastest-rising corporate stars'. Steve Mogford, 69, CEO United Utilities 2011-2023, earned £21.3m over eight years between 2015 and 2023. Mr Mogford was previously a Chief Operating Officer for Programmes at BAE Systems plc, where he worked for 30 years. He now holds roles including a partial return to defence as a senior independent director of military supplier QinetiQ Group. Peter Simpson, 58, CEO Anglian Water since 2013, earned £15.8m since 2015. Mr Simpson worked his way up within the company having been an executive there for the last 21 years, being COO from 2004 and appointed managing director in 2010. He is a founding member and co-chair of the Prince of Wales's Corporate Leaders Group in the UK and was a chairman of industry body Water UK in 2012/13. James Bowling, 56, CFO Severn Trent 2015 to retirement in 2023, earned £12m since 2015. Has a background in motoring having spent nine years at Ford. Mr Bowling was then at pharmaceutical company Shire PLC before moving to Severn Trent. Susan Davy, 56, chief executive South West Water for last five years, previously chief financial officer, earned £11.1m in the two roles. Ms Davy announced her retirement earlier this month. Details of her earnings come as South West Water is set to be forced to spend £24m under an 'enforcement package' imposed by regulator Ofwat, mostly to improve storm overflows to reduce sewage spills. View the Rich List in full at
Business Insider
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Bank of America Securities Keeps Their Buy Rating on Severn Trent (SVT)
In a report released today, Julius Nickelsen from Bank of America Securities maintained a Buy rating on Severn Trent, with a price target of £30.00. The company's shares closed today at p2,681.00. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Make smarter investment decisions with TipRanks' Smart Investor Picks, delivered to your inbox every week. According to TipRanks, Nickelsen is a 2-star analyst with an average return of 45.7% and a 100.00% success rate. Nickelsen covers the Utilities sector, focusing on stocks such as Pennon Group plc, Severn Trent, and Elia System Operator SA/NV. Currently, the analyst consensus on Severn Trent is a Hold with an average price target of p2,791.17. The company has a one-year high of p2,807.00 and a one-year low of p2,323.00. Currently, Severn Trent has an average volume of 630.3K. Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 36 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock. This means that over the past quarter there has been an increase of insiders selling their shares of SVT in relation to earlier this year.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
How one water company has gone 30 years without a hosepipe ban
England is battling exceptionally dry weather. It has been the country's driest start to a year since 1976, with drought declared in the East and West Midlands this week, joining swathes of northern England also in drought status. It comes after rainfall in June was 20% less than the long-term average. It was also the hottest June on record, with two heatwaves over the month driving unusually high demand for water. All this has resulted in a number of water companies imposing hosepipe bans. Southern Water is the latest, saying restrictions on hosepipes for activities such as watering gardens, filling paddling pools and washing cars will come in for households in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight from Monday, following similar restrictions from Yorkshire Water, South East Water and Thames Water. But there is no sign of a ban - yet - from Severn Trent, the water company which serves 4.6 million households across the Midlands, as well as Bristol, north and mid-Wales and the outskirts of Sheffield. In fact, it has a 30-year record of not imposing hosepipe bans, and this week said it was doing everything in its power to not break that. Here, Yahoo News UK asks: how? How has Severn Trent kept its 30-year record? When approached by Yahoo News UK, Severn Trent said it has avoided a hosepipe ban for 30 years "because we know just how important it is for our customers". But Dr Jess Neumann, associate professor of hydrology at the University of Reading, said a big factor is the company's sourcing "resilience". "It has the advantage of sourcing water from multiple different places: upland and lowland rivers, ground water and reservoirs. "So it probably has a bit more resilience in terms of being able to source from other places, whereas companies like Yorkshire Water are heavily reliant on reservoirs, and if it doesn't rain it doesn't have the water because it doesn't have ground water supplies." However, Severn Trent did point to what it is doing to prevent future hosepipe bans, including fixing 60,000 leaks across its network last year, saving 87 million litres of water a day, and investing £400m in new pipes. Dr Neumann said of this: "That's what we want water companies to be doing... if they are going to throw money at investment and fixing leaks, I am all for it. "However, it doesn't take away from the fact the Midlands is in drought. It feels like it is riding out the uncertainty and hoping it's going to be wet before having to implement any restrictions." The company said this week "we can't escape how hot and dry it is and how little rainfall we've had this year". Are hosepipe bans effective? Yes, Dr Neumann said, because they can reduce consumption by between 2% and 7% daily, depending on the level of public compliance. She added: "The good thing about the bans is they also make people more mindful of the water they are using. It has a dual purpose: not just stopping people using hosepipes, but also bringing water conservation onto their daily agenda. So they might think about taking a shorter shower, or investing in a water butt for when it does rain." Will there be more hosepipe bans? Dr Neumann said they will continue because of climate change, but water companies can mitigate shortages with investment. "If water companies sort out technological investment and fix things like leaks - which cause a 20% loss a day - they can claw back a lot of their water resources and we might not need so many hosepipe bans. "But we are certainly going to continue to see heatwaves, droughts and extreme and chaotic weather. In the short to medium term, we can expect to see more hosepipe bans if we continue to see summers like this." Read more Can you water the garden during a hosepipe ban? (Yahoo News UK) Up to five more regions could face drought this year, Environment Agency says (PA Media) Watch: Southern Water becomes latest company to bring in hosepipe ban amid dry weather Click below to see the latest South West headlines
BBC News
16-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Severn Trent looks to preserve 30-year hosepipe ban record
A water company has said it is doing everything in its power to maintain its 30-year record of not declaring a hosepipe Trent's comments come after the announcement on Tuesday of a drought in the Midlands region, following another spell of hot and dry Coventry-based company said it had "thousands of employees working around the clock right now to keep the water flowing".It said it was also fixing more leaks than ever before and spending record amounts on new pipes and on improving its treatment works. The Environment Agency announcement of a drought in the Midlands followed England's driest start to the year since 1976, leaving many rivers across the region at extremely low Trent said despite its efforts "we can't escape how hot and dry it is and how little rainfall we've had this year". For that reason, it said it was asking customers to be thoughtful with their water use and take steps to avoid said that included turning taps off when not in use, fixing leaks and fitting water-saving features, such as a shower timer. Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
