This is Peng Chen chairman of the Peoples Republic of China's 'China Investment Corporation'. He looks a friendly sort of chap!
Close to 10% of Thames Water's equity is controlled by him.... further chunks by Abu Dhabi and Canada.
Chen describes the Corporation's investment strategy 'as to seek maximum return with a zero risk tolerance'.
In other words to screw customers to achieve maximum dividend flow with minimal investment. This is why there has been little infrastructure investment and why Thames Water, with regularity floods our homes and rivers with sewage.
Thames Water's part-time £450k a year chairman Ian Marchant has just announced the departure Sarah Bentley, the hopeless CEO. In just four years she has cost the company around £4 million in golden hello's and goodbye's. He claims Bentley has done a good job!
As for Marchant....his record at SSE was just appalling. You can read all about the miss-selling HERE
It seems Thames Water is now on the edge of collapse so God help us all.
Privatising water utilities was the greatest sin against British taxpayers.
Genuine question , Can anyone name a single privatisation or 'marketisation' which has actually led to an improved service for customers? ( and l am not in any way going to romanticise the old days of the nationalised industries ) . But while rail looks shinier because of the billions of public money that has gone into it our rail services in no way compare to those of our European neighbours & we have failed with High Speed Rail . Water is a total disgrace - as are British Airways . The privatised & demutualised Building Societies have all been swallowed up by predatory banks and we have failed to build houses or provide social housing for those that need them . Our electrical power distribution network is moribund and we have made no progress in building a national water distribution network . Hosepipe bans are an annual
ReplyDeleteEvent (as predictable Wimbledon). The BBC while loved by the electorate is loathed and persecuted by government resulting in 20% cuts for BBC orchestras and music ). Even the Arts Council is in permanent crisis with the redirection of shrunken funds actually resulting in less touring by theatre & opera companies ( Hands off the ENO ! Which at least tries to serve the public - unlike the ROH which serves only a privileged elite). I guess that telecommunications are hugely better but isn't this largely down to technology and not down to unloved & unlovely British Telecom . ( feel free to post this as a new subject rather than tagged onto the water thread if you think it worthwhile )