Colin Skellett Chief Executive of Wessex Water, says the company remains "disappointed that the Ofwat price determination required bill reductions when the message from customers was that they favoured stable bills and more investment."
He was commenting in Wessex Water's annual results for 2019-20, which show that the utility achieved top place in Ofwat’s efficiency ranking, delivering industry leading customer service and operational performance. For the ninth year running, it also had the fewest complaints per 10,000 customers of any water and sewerage company.
The company also returned to “industry leading” status in the Environment Agency’s environmental performance assessment. To raise river water quality standards, Wessex Water is pioneering the use of catchment-based approaches to deliver sustainable, cost effective solutions by dealing with the source of pollution, not just the symptoms. This includes working with farmers at 21 sites across the region to deliver bespoke, sustainable solutions. Wessex has also called on government to no longer allow developers to have the right to connect surface water to combined systems, which adds to sewer capacity causing overflows to operate and release dilute sewage into rivers.
Ninety eight percent of customers rated the company’s service as good or very good and its Customer Service Excellence award was renewed for the fourth time.
The utility was also ranked as one of the top performing companies under Ofwat’s new measure of customer experience (C-MeX), which was trialled during last year.
Wessex Water again met its leakage target which is at its lowest ever level. Meanwhile when demand for water supply increased in summer 2019, the company was able to move water around its region using its water supply grid – a multi-million pound scheme completed during the five-year investment period.
Other achievements included:
- A 9% increase in the number of low-income customers receiving support with their bills or debt and a 67% increase in the number registered for Priority Services.
- Launching Trustpilot to seek customer opinion on its service, achieving a five-star rating on 83% of reviews.
- 100% compliance with abstraction licences, sludge standards and National Environment Programme outputs.
- Successfully delivering 54 tonnes per year of phosphorus reduction in the Bristol Avon against a target of 44 tonnes per year as part of a UK first catchment permitting trial.
- Growing the use of the Wessex Water Marketplace to help bring new ideas and solutions to the challenges faced.
Chief Executive Colin Skellett said:
“We met every one of the five-year targets that were set, which demonstrates the effectiveness of our scheme delivery. Our record investment of £1.4 billion over the next five years will see further improvements made to water and sewerage services, benefiting customers and helping to further protect the environment.
“However, we do remain disappointed that the Ofwat price determination required bill reductions when the message from customers was that they favoured stable bills and more investment, which would have provided investment in greater resilience for the longer term.”
Financial results for 2019-20, the final year of the AMP6 investment programme, shows operating profit fell by £15.9 million to £212.5 million and turnover increased by £4.6 million to £552.3 million.
The company continued to invest at record levels, with more than £271 million invested in maintaining and improving assets and services during the period. Wessex’ intention is that gearing will continue at under 70% and it will continue to maintain a straightforward corporate structure.
Gearing for the year increased to 66.25% at the end of the year - slightly above the notional assumption of 62.5%, resulting in additional equity returns.
Colin Skellett commented:
“We are extremely fortunate to have a long-term, prudent investor in YTL, the sole owners of Wessex Water, for more than 20 years. Their prudence has avoided the excesses of some companies who have engaged in special dividends, complex financial structures and offshore arrangements.”
Click here to download Wessex Water Annual Report and Accounts 2019-20
Click here to download Wessex Water Annual Performance Report 2019-20
With the UK government demanding a 50% reduction in storm overflow spills by 2029, the era of reactive management is over. Speaking in the House of Commons on 21 July 2025, then environment secretary Steve Reed said, “This Government will cut water companies’ sewage pollution in half by the end of the decade.”
ERG, the leading supplier of odour control systems and industrial gas cleaning & thermal systems, has been awarded the coveted King’s Award for Enterprise.
Welsh Water’s new artificial intelligence-driven tool, ORAI, has been shortlisted for three categories at the prestigious British Data Awards 2026 – underscoring the company’s commitment to using cutting-edge technology to deliver better outcome for customers.
Barhale has completed work on two separate Rapid Action Taskforce Spills projects it is carrying out for Severn Trent.
Hear how Scottish Water has completed its £235 million Ayrshire Glasgow Resilience Project - customers across Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire will now benefit from a more secure and resilient water supply.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.
Find out more about the remarkable career opportunities on offer at WSP - scroll down to watch the inspirational video.