Thames Water to appeal to competition regulator for even higher bills – business live | Business

Liberal Democrat MP Charlie Maynard has said that Thames Water should not be allowed to raise bills further because a 35% increase over five years is “more than enough”.

The MP was granted permission to intervene in the hearing over Thames Water’s debt package to represent household interests. His barrister argued in court that the company should be put into special administration, essentially temporary nationalisation, to end a “Thames Water debt doom loop”.

Maynard said:

A 35% increase is already far more than enough. So much of the money is being spent on sky high interest rates and advisory fees. Everyone’s focus now should be putting the company into special administration so its balance sheet can be reset and our bills spent on actually fixing the sewage network.

The company may gain less than £500m in usable cash from the first £1.5bn of the £3bn in emergency debt because of expensive fees and interest costs, Maynard argued.

You can read more about the fees and interest costs here:

Donald Trump’s proposal to impose reciprocal tariffs on every country in the world will hurt the UK economy if the US follows through on the threat, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

The US president said on Thursday that he would raise tariffs to match those on American exports, although he did not reveal any specific new measures, and delayed the implementation until the White House can develop a full plan.

The BCC, a business group, called for the UK to refrain from imposing retaliatory tariffs on the US to avoid being dragged into a trade war.

William Bain, the BCC’s head of trade policy, said:

These new proposals for reciprocal and differential tariffs will create more cost and uncertainty for investors, businesses and consumers across the world. Plans to factor in countries’ VAT regimes could lead to especially complex and costly tariff scenarios which upend established trade norms.

It is vital that the UK government does not get sucked into a trade war of tit-for-tat tariffs, which could easily spiral out of control. It will need to adopt a flexible and agile response, while assessing the reaction of other major players. But it must make the most of the time available before the introduction of these tariffs to negotiate with the US on alternative arrangements.

If they do not, then sectors such automotives, pharmaceuticals, and food and drink could be significantly hit as higher tariffs inevitably feed through into globally higher prices for consumers.

Thames Water has said customer bills for 2025-26 would be unaffected by its appeal to the Competition and Markets Authority.

Neither will there be any delay to its spending plans for the next year, it claimed.

However, it said that it wants three things from the CMA:

• A regulatory settlement that reflects the circumstances of Thames Water’s operating area

• Targets that are challenging but achievable

• An appropriate balance of risk and return

England is the only country in the world where the water industry is entirely privatised. Thames Water is the biggest of those private companies.

It serves just under a quarter of the UK population across London and the Thames Valley.

Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of business, economics and financial markets.

Thames Water has said it will appeal to the UK’s competition regulator to ask to raise bills even higher than previously granted, a in a move likely to prove controversial with politicians and campaigners.

The water company, which serves 16m customers in London and southeast England, said its board had made a unanimous decision to appeal to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

Water bills in England and Wales will rise by 36% on average over the next five years. England and Wales water regulator Ofwat allowed Thames to raise them by 35%. However, the company had asked for a 59% increase.

Thames Water is on the verge of financial collapse. It is awaiting a court judgment on a £3bn debt deal that will allow existing creditors to add to its debt pile of about £19bn. The judgment could come as soon as today, although it is expected early next week.

The company has said that without the cash it will collapse on 24 March.

In a statement to markets on Friday morning, it said the board had concluded that “the final determination for the regulatory period 2025 to 2030 does not appropriately support the investment and improvement that is required for Thames Water to deliver for its customers, communities and the environment for the next five years.”

The company is also being investigated by the water regulator for England and Wales, Ofwat, after delaying environmental improvement schemes.

The chairman of Thames Water, Adrian Montague said:

We have taken the decision to refer our final determination to the Competition and Markets Authority in the interests of our customers and the environment. We are focused on putting the business on a long-term stable footing so we can succeed in our turnaround, and build and maintain an infrastructure that supports growth and can withstand the effects of climate change.

We put forward a realistic business plan for 2025-2030 that addressed our customers’ and stakeholders’ priorities such as providing safe and resilient water supplies and improving performance. After careful consideration, our analysis shows that our final determination for the next regulatory period will continue to impact our ability to fund the improvements our customers and the environment so rightly want and deserve.

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