Pennon Group, owner of South West Water, Bristol Water and Bournemouth Water, has announced plans to invest a record £750 million in the South West over the next two years.

The investment will focus on building new water resources and reservoirs, reducing usage of storm overflows, and increasing the use of renewable energy, benefiting communities across the South West region.

The plans will see Pennon, the region's biggest private sector employer, add 200 new colleagues to its 3,000-strong workforce. Most of the spend will be with local suppliers and contractors. This follows a year of record investment, up by over 50% over 2022/23, which was also targeted at environmental improvements and new water resources.

As well as delivering on its existing environmental commitments, the Group will devote much of the increased spending over the next two years to tackling some of the region’s biggest challenges, including:

• £100 million to reducing releases from storm overflows down to an average of 20 per year by 2025, including prioritised investment at 49 at designated bathing waters
• £125 million to new water resources and two desalination plants in Cornwall to secure the long-term water security of the region
• £160 million to accelerate Net Zero 2030 commitments, including a c.£35m investment in a renewable energy generation site in Dunfermline, and c.£25m in increasing battery storage capacity
• Doubling Pennon’s apprenticeship and graduate schemes to 1,000 by 2030, along with offering 5,000 work placement opportunities over the same period

Susan Davy, Chief Executive of Pennon Group, said:

“We are committing to going further and faster in the investments we are making across the South West over the next two years.

“We had already planned to increase spending to £400 million over the period. Now, having listened to our customers, many of whom are shareholders, we are going much bigger.

“We have two key objectives that require heavy investment: more water resources at a time of increasing population and lower rainfall; and reducing storm overflows and the impact they cause on the environment. That’s why we are announcing our plans today to invest over £750m across the region over the next two years in these vital areas.

“We know there is much more to be done. Our shareholders have fully endorsed our commitment to invest record amounts to improve our environment.”

The spending programme will provide a substantial boost to the South West’s economy with the creation of hundreds of new jobs at Pennon, as well as benefiting the wider supply chain across the region.

Pennon said the major investment enjoys the support of Pennon’s shareholders who include more than 1,500 Pennon employees, many thousands of customers, as well as UK pension funds and charities, who invest over the long term in return for a sustainable income via a responsible and fair dividend policy.