John Halsall has officially been appointed as new chief executive after resignation of David Hinton,but timing says everything.
Company has already been facing heavy criticism over water supply failures in Kent and Sussex . So when new boss comes in middle of that kind of mess,people are obviously not going to clap first and ask questions later .
Halsall is not new to water sector either . He has worked with Thames Water and South West Water,so expectation will be that he actually understands what customers are angry about,not just what boardroom presentation says.
In his first statements as chief executive,Halsall said his immediate focus will be on responding to issues raised by customers and delivering short-term improvements to services provided by SEW . Fair enough,but customers who already faced disruption will want results,not soft words only.
Few things standing out clearly here:
- John Halsall is taking over after David Hinton resigned.
- SEW is planning its largest investment program to date,worth £2.1 billion .
- Ofwat is investigating SEW,with potential £22 million fine for past service failures.
And tbh,the £2.1 billion investment plan sounds big ah . It is meant to improve reliability and resilience of water supply in affected areas,but after tens of thousands of customers faced supply disruptions,trust is not going to return just because one big number is announced.
But leadership accountability question is also sitting there loudly . Hinton’s departure came with salary package of £400,000 and bonus of £115,000,and many people will naturally ask how that looks when customers were dealing with service failures.
At same time,SEW's financial position is not exactly comfortable either . Annual report showed debt of £1.3 billion,and company recently increased prices by average of 7%,taking average yearly bill to £324 . So customers are paying more while still hearing about failures and investigations .
Now Halsall has to handle angry customers,regulatory pressure,large debt,price rise and damaged public trust all together . Maybe he can steady things,but people in Kent and Sussex will probably believe it only when taps keep running without drama…