Welsh Water has confirmed plans to shed up to 500 jobs as part of a major restructuring. The not-for-profit water company, which is owned by Glas Cymru, said over the next 18 to 24 months it will reduce its current headcount of 4,000 by 12%.
The water and sewerage services firm said it hopes the job cuts can be achieved through voluntary redundancies and stressed that the programme intends to enhance frontline services and increase efficiency in back office and managerial positions. It added that "every possible pound" will be invested in customer service, environmental improvements, and vital network investment.
The "significant transformation" and restructuring of the businesses will take place over the next 18-24 months. Welsh Water said its entire cost base is being reviewed to ensure value for money is being delivered.
Chief executive Pete Perry said: "With customers' bills increasing, we have challenged ourselves hard to reduce our own costs to ensure every pound we spend brings benefit to customers and maintains our financial resilience during a challenging period for the sector."
In April, people saw their water bills go up on average from £503 to £639 from April - around a 27% increase. Further rises in water bills are expected until 2030.
Earlier this year the wider water industry was downgraded by credit ratings agencies Fitch and Moody's, at a time when investment needs have increased to fund improvements in infrastructure and the environment following the recent price review with regulator Ofwat.
Welsh Water, which is reliant on the bond market for capital investment, said the downgrading of its credit rating has not resulted in increased financing costs.
Earlier this year, Welsh Water was also fined £1.35m after admitting 800 breaches of its environmental permits to discharge sewage.
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Welsh Water's outgoing chief executive Pete Perry, said: "Customers rightly expect us to invest in improving our services and to keep our own costs to a minimum – and that's exactly what this programme will achieve.
"Our customers' expectations have changed significantly in recent years, as have our regulatory requirements, and as a company we need to adapt. With customers' bills increasing, we have challenged ourselves hard to reduce our own costs to ensure every pound we spend brings benefit to customers and maintains our financial resilience during a challenging period for the sector.
"I fully recognise that this will be an unsettling time for colleagues affected. We have not undertaken changes on this scale for more than a decade, and we will handle the process with care, compassion, and fairness. Wherever possible, we will prioritise voluntary exits, retraining, and redeployment, and we will work closely with our trade unions and provide full support to every colleague impacted.
"We are acting now so we can protect services for customers, investing more in our networks and the environment, and ensure that as much of our customers' money as possible goes into the things that matter most: reliable water and wastewater services and support when people need us."
Comment: Business Editor Sion Barry
Welsh Water (Dwr Cymru) has announced a major restructuring programme which, over the next two years, could see up to 500 job losses — representing around 12% of its current workforce of 4,000.
This will come as a blow to staff and a legitimate concern to Welsh Water’s three million customers. However, major job losses are not without precedent, with around 300 jobs shed during its 2015–20 five-year regulatory-approved period.
Since privatisation there has been significant investment, but the network is Victorian by design and requires tens of billions in investment just to stand still. Welsh Water, a private company, was once part of the listed Welsh utilities group Hyder.
That was a business that should never have been allowed to reach a stage where it was breaching banking covenants while holding a monopoly on supply. Its not-for-profit model was created in 2001 by former executives Chris Jones and Nigel Annett after taking on its £1bn mountain of debt and refinancing with a bond issue. It was an innovative Welsh solution to a Welsh corporate (Hyder) created problem.
Since then, its not-for-profit ownership model — via its ultimate owner, Glas Cymru — has been positioned as something of a virtue in Wales. How often has it been said that it benefits from not having external shareholders looking to extract cash through dividend payments?
But has the Glas model become too cosy? It has a board, but what real scrutiny is provided by its members? External shareholders bring the benefit of taking an unconstrained and uncompromising stance in holding the executive to account — through representation on the board — which in turn can drive improved performance. Shareholders can also inject much-needed new capital through additional equity.
The recent Independent Water Commission, chaired by Sir John Cunliffe, recommended that Wales establish its own water regulator. Again, this would only benefit consumers if the regulator had real teeth.
With climate change and increasing demand for water — including from data centres planned in Wales to accommodate the expansion of AI — Welsh Water needs to be at the top of its game. If that means reconsidering its not-for-profit status, then so be it.
Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds MS said; "Workers are now paying the price for systematic leadership failures over many years at Dwr Cymru.
"While Welsh Water's chief execuitve received remuneration of £892,000 in 2021 alone, the leadership team at Dwr Cymru presided over some of the highest levels of sewage dumping in the entire 海角视频, extremely high levels of leaking pipes and wasted water and soaring bills for Welsh customers.
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"I'm extremely concerned about what these job cuts will mean for tackling all of these issues. It is
Mr Perry will step down next spring. He is being succeeded by Roch Cheroux, who was boss of Sydney Water, from 2019 to March this year.
Welsh Water has pushed back at some media claims that he was sacked from Sydney Water.
It said: "Roch's departure from Sydney Water followed a change of government in New South Wales when board-level changes were made to most public bodies - where such roles are public appointments – as the new government changed policy direction.
"Roch worked through the transition period of a new Chair at Sydney Water and left the company at an appropriate time as Sydney Water moved into its next phase of delivery and strategic planning.
"As recognised by the New South Wales Government, Roch was 'instrumental in modernising the organisation and preparing it for the long-term challenges of water security, infrastructure delivery and customer service in a rapidly growing city.'
"By the end of his tenure, Sydney Water was the most trust utility company in Australia, employee engagement and customer satisfaction had increased significantly, and operational performance had also improved."
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