Thames Water's new boss faces tide of problems

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Thames Water's new chief executive, Chris Weston, takes the helm of Britain's largest privatised water company on Monday, facing the daunting task of persuading investors, lenders and regulators to support plans to turn around the debt-laden business.

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08 Jan 2024

Weston, a former executive at power supply firm Aggreko and at British Gas, has to convince investors nursing multimillion-pound losses that he has the management expertise and vision to put the water monopoly on a stable footing, despite ongoing regulatory uncertainty and the threat of penalties and legal fines for leakage and sewage outflows.

He takes over after the former chief executive, Sarah Bentley left the company last June, following a boardroom bust-up that sparked fears over Thames Water’s financial viability, forcing the government to draw up plans for the utility’s temporary nationalisation.

Thames Water’s overarching group is burdened with a consolidated debt mountain of £18.3bn as of March 31, up from £15.4bn the year before. It needs to refinance £1bn of debt by the end