By Sarah Young
LONDON -Thames Water, Britain’s biggest water supplier, said its chief financial officer Alastair Cochran would leave within days, an abrupt change at the top of the utility as it battles to avoid financial collapse.
Thames Water, a poster child for Britain’s broken water sector which has polluted rivers with sewage, has been on the brink of needing a state rescue since last year. To survive beyond 2026, it needs 3 billion pounds ($3.9 billion) of new equity and to restructure its debts.
The company said in a statement on Friday that Cochran would step down at the end of March 2025, after 3-1/2 years in the role. Director of Group Finance, Stuart Thom, will act as interim CFO while it seeks a permanent replacement.
Cochran’s departure comes during a crucial few months for Thames Water as it tries to attract new investors to plough in enough equity to secure its finances in the longer term.
Chief Executive Chris Weston thanked Cochran in the statement and paid tribute to his capabilities, saying he was “pivotal” in the recent process to secure a debt lifeline.
Chairman Adrian Montague said: “He has led the work to put Thames Water’s finances on a more stable footing … laying the foundations for the wholesale recapitalisation of the business.”
Thames Water said in mid-March that it was assessing proposals from six parties for new equity and was aiming to agree a deal in the second quarter of this year, after a court approved a 3 billion pound lifeline loan to tide it over.
Thames Water, which has 16 million customers in London and southern England, was already in turnaround mode when Cochran joined in September 2021.
The company has amassed an 18 billion pound debt pile and environmentalists have criticised it for prioritising dividends over the years while under investing in upgrading pipes and pumping stations.
($1 = 0.7717 pounds)
(Reporting by Sarah Young in London and Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, James Davey and Catherine Evans)
