Welcome to the toughest job in London: Thames Water picks new operations director
Crisis-hit utilities giant Thames Water has parachuted in a veteran from Transport for London (TfL) to head its operations in London as it seeks to regain credibility and trust.
The beleaguered firm today announced Esther Sharples as its new operations director in the capital, who joins after 16-years at TfL managing many of its major infrastructure projects.
Al Cochran, interim co-chief executive and chief finance officer at Thames Water, said Sharples “brings with her a wealth of experience in managing vast and complex infrastructure, which has been demonstrated during her time at TfL”.
“Her expertise in this area of business will help transform services for our customers and protect the natural environment,” he added.
Her appointment comes as Thames Water, which is the UK’s largest supplier with about 15m customers, faces a series of crises.
There were concerns the firm might collapse under its burgeoning debt pile earlier this year, with Ofwat warning it was ready to step it to nationalise it if the situation deteriorated.
In July, Thames Water owner Kemble suffered a downgrade in the credit rating of its debts from influential agency Moody’s, as it scrambled for cash to shore up its operations, and tame a mammoth £14bn debt pile.
The firm was forced to admit that its ballooning debt pile meant there would likely be higher bills for customers in the future.
It has also come under scrutiny for failing for its leaky infrastructure and pollution incidents. The environment agency found earlier this year that more than half of serious pollution incidents in the UK were from assets of either Anglian Water or Thames Water.