In an interview on BBC Radio 5’s “Wake Up to Money” programme broadcast on 12 July, 2024, Tim Whittaker, Research Director at EDHEC Infra & Private Assets, commented on the current problems faced by the UK water sector, and by Thames Water in particular, which has been placed under special measures due to severe debt and operational issues and which he believes is unlikely to be able to attract new investors under the current conditions:

““I don’t see how Thames is able to convince any further investors to chip in more money under the current sort of regime that they’ve got. There is too much debt, there is too much investment required and it has been neglected for too long.” “… If Thames Water were to fail, there’s another 13 billion of dollars of debt that the government will have to sort of take onto the balance sheet.” “… with Thames saying that they have until May next year to try and find new financing, there are going to be a lot of sleepless nights between now and then within the goverment itself, as well as with the investors and management of Thames”.

Listen to the segment here (34:23 to 39:52).