JANUARY
Thames Water opens the year dangerously close to insolvency in spite of having siphoned off a total of £7.2bn in dividends for its shareholders since privatisation in 1989. They have accumulated approximately £19bn worth of debt and creditors are pushing for a bailout loan which must be approved by the High Court.
FEBRUARY
Campaigners protest as the High Court grants Thames Water a £3bn bailout loan at an interest rate of 9.7% which will add a further £250/year to already sky high bills. It is revealed in court that the company burns through £15m a month on the lawyers and advisers it has working on its restructuring plans.
MARCH
Thames Water data reveals raw sewage discharges in rivers rose by 50% in 2024 in spite of the target to reduce by 30% . In the same period share holders were paid £1.2bn while over 100 sewage treatment upgrade projects were cancelled due to lack of funds.
APRIL
Multi-million pound fines loom as a consequence of Thames’ failures to achieve sewage spill and maintenance targets but Thames’ bosses beg to be spared these fines warning their bailout bidders could walk away.
MAY
Thames’ bosses hauled up in front of Environment Select Committee and found to have lied about bonuses awarded which are banned under the Water Special Measures Act. Ofwat hits Thames Water with the biggest ever pollution penalty over sewage spills as well as a hefty fine for overpaying shareholders dividends – total cost to Thames – er no that’s us actually – £123m.
JUNE
Thames Water’s preferred bidder, US equity firm KKR, pulls out of the rescue deal leaving the company on the brink of collapse. The remaining bidders threaten to walk away too unless water bosses are granted immunity from environmental crimes.
JULY
Steve Reed’s Independent Water Commission report on water sector reform but their work is widely criticised for considering regulatory changes but not even looking at the bigger problem – England’s private ownership model for water.
Steve Reed, the Environment Secretary, continues to claim that renationalisation is prohibitively expensive in spite of growing evidence that his £10bn price tag is nonsense.
AUGUST
Still no viable rescue plan for Thames Water and water campaigners River-Action launch a legal challenge against the government over their failure to put Thames into special administration.
Thames’ creditors calculate that the failing company could be looking at £1bn in further pollution and environmental penalties based on vast outstanding repair needs and call for more regulatory ‘easements’ to make the company attractive to potential investors.
SEPTEMBER
Steve Reed is replaced by Emma Reynolds as Environment Secretary. She lost her seat in 2019 (regained in 2024) then worked for a firm of financial lobbyists and so is seen as a safe pair of hands by those who favour selling our water assets to foreign investors to balance Rachel’s Reeves books. Emma agrees with Steve about avoiding special administration for Thames.
OCTOBER
News breaks that Thames is ranked as the very worst of England’s water suppliers who have now collectively achieved a whopping 60% increase in pollution.
Thames Water’s lenders submit a new rescue plan to stave off collapse but it relies on being allowed to continue this current level of pollution for another 15 years.
NOVEMBER
River Action take Ofwat to court over allowing water firms to charge twice for sewage management improvements – i.e. those 100 projects that we paid for between 2020 and 2024 although they were never completed. Judgement is still pending.
DECEMBER
Thames Water’s accounting figures reveal that revenues have risen by 40% to nearly £2bn since the company was allowed to raise customer bills by over 32% in April.
Thames Water executives continue to ignore the bonus ban as they resolve to pay out a total of £13.5m in further bonuses across the course of 2026.
To look out for in 2026…
Will Ofwat say NO to Thames creditors’ bid to be allowed to keep polluting ?
Will Thames ask the Competition and Markets Authority to allow them to put bills up even further in the coming months?
Will the government finally see sense and put Thames Water into special administration?
Watch this space and join our boycotting movement to take back control of OUR water.