Analysis by the Liberal Democrats has revealed that water companies across the UK have almost doubled their profits since the last parliamentary election in 2019.
Looking into data held by Companies House, researchers working on behalf of Britain’s third-largest political party discovered that collectively the country’s 25 water firms raked in £4.2 billion during that time. This represents an 82 per cent jump, the Guardian reports.
Speaking about the figures, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey questioned why the country’s water firms are being allowed to make such huge sums while performing so badly.
He said: “These eye-watering profits are a national scandal. Whilst our rivers, lakes and coastlines get destroyed by raw sewage, these polluting firms are laughing all the way to the bank. Frankly, the whole thing stinks.
“This is concrete proof that under the Conservatives, water firms have prospered and got away with environmental vandalism.”
Poor Performance
On their own, these profits might not raise many eyebrows. However, given the fact that many of the country’s water companies are constantly in the news for all the wrong reasons, it’s easy to see why it’s left a bad taste in the mouths of the Lib Dems.
Just last year, a group that campaigns to stop water companies from releasing sewage into our waterways claimed that the amount of people getting sick after swimming in river or sea water almost trebled in 2022.
In its annual report, Surfers Against Sewage said 1,924 people claimed to have gotten “sewage sickness” between October 2022 and September 2023. This was up from 720 the previous year, representing a huge increase.
This came after regulator Ofwat forced seven companies to pay £114m back to customers due to “poor performance”.
Response
One of the suppliers hit with a fine last year was Yorkshire Water – which also happened to be the company that made the most profit in a single year since 2019, according to the Independent.
Yorkshire Water responded by saying: “Profit before tax is not an accurate reflection of our business performance in 2022/23 as it included unrealised fair value movements relating to our financing. Adjusting for these movements, Yorkshire Water made a loss.”
So whether or not these profits give a true reflection of the money being made by the water companies remains to be seen.
Regardless, there are some serious questions to be asked, with many of the country’s water suppliers continuing to provide inadequate service whilst taking billions from customers each year.
Compare Water
This revelation highlights once again that some of the country’s water suppliers appear to be prioritising profits over delivering an adequate service. The good news is you can show them it’s not acceptable by refusing to hand over your hard-earned cash!
This is why it’s never been more important to know you’re with a supplier which has the interests of its customers at heart. One way to do this is to compare business water suppliers with a broker like ourselves.
There are many different suppliers on the market and each of them offers something slightly different. While some offer the best prices on water rates, which is obviously important for any business, others may have more of a focus on their standard of service.
As a broker, we’ll start by discussing your needs and preferences, before using that information to source a number of options. We’ll offer detailed information on these different suppliers, tariffs and pricing structures, so you’ll have all the information you need to make your choice.
Another benefit of using a broker like SwiftSwitch is we stay informed about the latest innovations and goings-on within the industry. So if you’re keen to partner with a supplier that’s performing well and you’d like to avoid the ones that are clearly putting profit before all else, you’re in the right place as we can help you do just that.
So if you want to find the best deals on the market that can help you team up with a reliable provider, get in touch as we’d be happy to help you compare business water suppliers.
