UTILITY WEEK | JUNE 2023 |
9
Interview
W
hen Sarah Bentley took the helm at the
country's largest water company – mired in
problems around the environment, customer
care, service delivery and infrastructure – she created an
eight-year plan to turn it around. Two years in, she tells
Utility Week it's going to take "every single day" of those
eight years to bring Thames Water up to scratch.
"Aiming for mediocrity, or being average, is not
something I've aspired to do ever in my career," says
Bentley. "But right now, from being an outlier and lag-
gard in the sector, being average would be pretty amaz-
ing actually."
Bentley has made clear her ambition to get Thames
back in the pack performance-wise and recognises that
no-one will be cheering from the sidelines for average.
"People want to see us being a leading water company
and I would love that for Thames, but I'm also realistic."
In recent years, Thames has persistently ranked
bottom of league tables for customer service and
complaints. Leakage rates last year were double the
sector average and the company has £14 billion of debt.
In 2019, with the departure of previous chief executive
Steve Robertson, the company was deep in crisis and in
need of fresh blood.
Bentley, who joined Thames a year later from Severn
Trent, bluntly summarises the state of the company
when she arrived: "It had been hollowed out through
continued overleaf
