Water Utilities - Improving Cash, Cost and Service

Ten major Water Utilities in England and Wales could recoup up to £300 million in cash and reduce costs by more than £180 million annually by improving the way they collect payments from delinquent customers, manage suppliers, and generally run their operations. Research compiled by working capital consultancy REL earlier this year highlighted Thames Water as the worst performer in terms of working capital, and alone was responsible for 14% of the total cash loss in the sector and 55% of the total overage in cost. Other poor performers included United Utilities and Severn Trent. These figures are based on gaps to average performance from published information and may be influenced by different demographics and regional infrastructures, but still show clear trends and performance gaps across the industry. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]