How UK’s biggest water supplier sank into crisis [Video]

PAY ATTENTION: Celebrate Youth Month with Briefly News! Nominate a young entrepreneur under 35 with an inspiring story to be our 7th ‘Young Money Maker’. Let’s shine a light on their achievements together! Nominate now

Thames Water, the UK’s largest water supplier, has been ravaged since privatisation by soaring debts and chronic underinvestment, sinking into a deep financial crisis which has sparked bailout speculation.

So how did Thames Water, serving about 15 million people across London and surrounding areas, end up in such a perilous financial state?

In a controversial move, the group this week proposed a massive hike in water bills that would worsen Britain’s cost-of-living crisis and prove unpopular ahead of a general election.

Privatisation and debt

Britain’s publicly-owned water and sewage industry was privatised in 1989 under the Conservative governmentof then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. …