Industry leading service continues for customers in the Wessex Water region

Wessex Water continues to lead the way in the water industry for its services to customers and environmental performance.

The company’s strong track record for customer service has continued in 2024, as it remained at the top spot in Ofwat’s half-year Customer Measure of Experience (C-MeX) scores published in November.

The industry’s consumer watchdog, CCW, also cited Wessex Water as the best performing water and sewerage company for customer complaint handling in 2023-24, and the only company to be placed in its ‘good’ category.

Regulatory performance aside, Wessex Water has retained its Customer Service Excellence accreditation for the year and continues to be rated ‘Excellent’ on Trustpilot by customers.

As part of its commitment to strong compliance across all its core services, Wessex Water has, for the third year in a row, been recognised as the top performing water and sewerage company for drinking water quality by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI).

And for environmental performance, Wessex Water has regularly achieved the Environment Agency’s top performance rating. The company is working towards further reducing its environmental impact by investing £3m a month in improving storm overflows and reducing how often they operate.

In its business plan for 2025 to 2030, the company proposes to significantly increase this investment, alongside a wider increase of over £2bn more than between 2020 and 2025 across all its infrastructure.

Subject to regulatory approval, this substantial figure will see more money than ever before ploughed into tackling overflows, removing nutrients from watercourses, reducing leakage, and ensuring reliable water supplies for generations to come.

Chief Executive Ruth Jefferson said: “Expectations of what the water industry needs to achieve have rarely been higher. Our customers rightfully expect excellent service and a positive contribution to the environment. Challenges brought about by climate change, an increasing population, stricter regulation, and an uncertain economic outlook all signify a need for the water industry to make some major improvements, and that is why our 2025-30 business plan is so ambitious.

“We’ve had a good year so far with strong performance across the board and I am proud of all my colleagues at Wessex Water for maintaining such high standards. But we know there is more work to be done to build on these strengths and restore the trust of customers.”

In Wessex Water’s interim results published today (11 December 2024), the company referenced the new independent commission into the water industry chaired by Sir Jon Cunliffe.

Ms Jefferson commented: “We welcome the work of the Commission and look forward to engaging with Sir Jon to help shape a future for the water industry that meets customer expectations, enhances the environment, is resilient to climate change and continues to be an attractive place for long-term investors.”

To deliver the record-breaking investment in its five-year business plan, Wessex Water will create around 700 new local jobs, with thousands more in the supply chain. The company’s leadership team recognises the need to maintain its strong positive workplace culture and retain talent.

Ms Jefferson said: “Colleagues across the business are integral to our success and we will continue to work hard to empower our people and ensure Wessex Water is a great place to work for all. The health, safety and wellbeing of our staff and contractors is of highest priority.

“It’s also important that we have a strong pipeline of future leaders in our industry. Our YTL Wessex Academy is a unique offering that gives opportunities for interns, apprentices, and graduates to develop in their chosen areas. We expect this year to be able to offer 60 places on these programmes across the full range of our functions.”

Financial results for the six months to September 2024 showed turnover increased from £287.0m to £332.5m, while the position after taxation improved from a loss of £8.0m last year to a profit after taxation of £19.6m this year.