Severn Trent Water: Fit to bear the name of England’s great rivers
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lthough the Thames is England’s bestknown river because of its assocation with the nation’s capital, the Severn is the longest of England’s waterways at 354 kilometres long. Together with the Trent, England’s fourth longest river, they pass
As of 2016, Severn Trent provides high quality water and sewerage services to over 4.3 million households and businesses. Despite reporting an impressive net income of £120 million in 2015, the company’s bills for water and sewage combined are the lowest on average in England and Wales. Likewise, Severn Trent has one of the lowest reported per capita consumption rates in the UK. The company introduces a new strategic plan, every five years. The latest such plan was introduced in 2015 and will run until 2020. Its goals including building on its current
through the west of England and parts of Wales and give their name to the area’s largest private water company, Severn Trent. Severn Trent was founded in 1974 when various small water authorities were brought together to create a regional water authority for the West of England and part of Wales. As one of just ten such newly-formed authorities in the country, Severn Trent automatically gained responsibility for approximately 8 million people. In the 1980s, under legislation developed by the UK government of the time, Severn Trent was privatized. This was followed shortly afterwards by a listing on the London Stock Market, the FTSE. Through a series of bolton acquisitions, the firm that 8 million British people turn to every day for their water began to emerge.
performance, to deliver better value and better service, but perhaps most importantly, delivering for a healthier environment, including fewer pollution incidents and a 6% reduction in their carbon footprint.
A healtheir environment
Severn Trent is committed to ensuring a sustinable future for water and the environment. In 2015, it published: Charting a Sustinable Course, a document which shines a light on
the main policy issues facing the water sector and promote a constructive debate about its direction for the future. In particular, the document focused on Ofwat (the UK Water Regulator) and their developing the role of sludge trading and water trading. Severent Trent already self-generates energy equivalent to 33% of its total energy requirements and as such, is one of the leaders in its field. In 2015, it started a Proactive Asset Management programme which is focused on investing at the right time and cost to maintain and enhance the long term health of the company’s assets. As a key stakeholder in the region where it operates, the environment is a key non-proprietary asset for the firm In 2015, it invested £91 million towards its targest on pollution, environmental compliance, biodiversity and sustainable sewerage treatment. This investment formed a part of a larger £250 million programme which seeks to ensure that the company’s assets are not preventing compliance with the government’s Water Framework Directive. The investments reflect the company’s stellar performance on environmental indicators. The UK Environmental Agency has assessed its evironmental performance at 4*, which is the second time in three years that the company has increased its efforts in preventing pollution. In addition, the score for Asset Stewardship Environmental Compliance was 97.51%.
Partners
at the heart of England Severn Trent’s location in Birmingham, England’s second largest city, and just one and a half hours from London, gives it access to a network of partners and suppliers that would be the envy of any firm of its kind. Chief among these is Atkins, one of the world's most respected design, engineering and project management consultancies and employing some 18,000 people across the globe. Elsewhere, the company can call on Main Electrical, who are continuously working with Severn Trent to reduce its energy burden, and Morrison’s Utility Services, who won the contract to supply the company with repair and maintenance services in 2013. Morrisson’s excellent provision of services outlined in that same contract led to a renewal in 2016 for a further two years at £25 million a year. Last, but certainly not least, are JN Bentley, who have provided Severn Trent with construction and civil engineering services for several years and have played no small part in helping the firm reach the indicators outlined in the previous section.reputation can only improve by being associated with a world class water company like Severn
The future
As part of its latest 5-year plan, it aims to self-generate energy equivalent to 50% of what it uses by 2020. Its 16MW capacity of solar power on 30 different sites across the UK will help it in this endeavour, as will continuous education of its 8-million strong customer base on sustainable water usage. Above all, the company’s focus will continue on customers, people, process and finance These four areas are the pillars of the company’s operations and it cannot function without always looking to improve on all four. While the Thames River is better known outside of the UK, the lesser known Severn and Trent rivers’ reputation can only improve by being associated with a world class water company like Severn Trent.
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