A new chief executive, a 拢20million windfall for customers, the 拢4.2billion sale of Viridor, and, of course, the coronavirus crisis 鈥 it鈥檚 been some year for the West Country鈥檚 biggest business.
South West Water (SWW) may have taken a 拢10million hit during the Covid-19 lockdown, particularly as some business demand drained away, but the company was expecting this and parent firm Pennon Group Plc promises it is on track to deliver 鈥渞esilient鈥 financial results in 2021.
The utilities giant sits at number one in the Western Morning News/PKF Francis Clark list of the South West鈥檚 150 largest companies, with a pre-Covid turnover of 拢1.39billion and 4,853 employees.
Most of them continued working throughout the March 23-imposed lockdown and the firm has no plans to abandon offices, even though some staff are working from home.
And it is looking beyond the current crisis, with big plans to invest, in new technology and environmental improvements, and in its workforce, and by using some of the to pay down debt and bolster its pension scheme.
And then there is the 拢20million handout to customers, a bonus from the Exeter-headquartered firm鈥檚 over-performance on its 2015-2020 business plan, which customers can choose to .
That is part of a scheme called WaterShare+, a feature of , and to be overseen by Lib-Dem peer Lord Taylor.
Other highlights of the New Deal include lower bills, additional support for those most in need, and more than 拢1billion of extra spending to improve services, including the biggest environmental improvement programme for 15 years.
So, a lot for new chief executive Susan Davy to get her teeth into. , who stepped down after a four-year tenure.
But Ms Davy is not new to the company, she has been with the company for 13 years and stepped up from being chief finance officer.
She is also not the only new face at the top. Gill Rider, a former head of the civil service capability group in the Cabinet Office, also took over as chair from Sir John Parker, who departed after five years.
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Ms Davy said she is looking forward to getting stuck into the new five year plan and hinted at the possibility of acquiring more companies, after the successful lassoing of Bournemouth Water in 2015.
鈥淲e are looking for growth opportunities in the 海角视频 water sector,鈥 she said. But when pressed on whether that did, indeed, mean more acquisitions, she would only say: 鈥淲e are going to do what鈥檚 in the best interests of shareholders in terms of being efficient with the proceeds from Viridor.鈥
The sale of the recycling and waste disposal arm in July 2020, to investment firm Planets 海角视频 Bidco, brought in 拢4.2billion and Pennon has a plan for the cash, including shrinking its 拢900million debt pile.
鈥淲e will be using the cash to make sure we have an efficient balance sheet,鈥 Ms Davy said. 鈥淲e will pay down 拢900million of our debt. We have paid off about 拢580million so far. And we will be putting 拢36million into the pension scheme.鈥
Environmental improvements are also high on the to-do list. SWW has a new Mayflower treatment plant in Roborough, Plymouth, which supersedes the Crownhill operation, and the firm is investing new technology, some now already in operation at the new works.
But there is always more to do, such as reducing leakage by 15% and work to get services 鈥渦p to standard鈥 in the Isles of Scilly.
Ms Davy stressed the importance of the environmental goal and said: 鈥淲e need to protect and enhance it. We have more to do.
鈥淲e have great stats around bathing water, but in some other areas, like pollution performance, it needs to be better, and we will be spending to make investments.鈥
Pennon is also planning to become involved in the Government鈥檚 Kickstarter Scheme to help young people find employment.
鈥淲e are looking at 50 placements,鈥 Ms Davy said. 鈥淲e are hoping to support people back into work through that scheme. As a responsible employer in the South West we want to make sure we can do that.鈥
And responsibility to the workforce is vital for SWW and Pennon, and Ms Davy stressed how the firm had been keen to support staff during the worst months of the pandemic contagion.
鈥淚 want to give a massive thank you to all our team that kept us operating since March,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hey did a fantastic job. More than 95% of our operations have been continuing. Certain aspects we stopped doing, meter reading for example.
鈥淏ut during the hot dry spell the team were keeping up with market demand, and with people coming into the region.
鈥淚 have been out and about meeting the teams and seeing the work they have done,鈥 she added. 鈥淲e have been supporting people to make sure they are safe and have taken measures to achieve that.
鈥淭he majority of staff in the fields teams, labs and on the operational side, came into work, but office staff were working at home.鈥
However, the number returning to offices has been 鈥渞amping up鈥 and Ms Davy said: 鈥淭he people want to come back. But we are mindful. We have 40% to 45% of staff in our offices because we are doing social distancing. Some of our call centre staff have been working from home.鈥
In September Pennon鈥檚 trading statement showed , from demand during the lockdown months.
This was mainly due to reduced demand from businesses, and Ms Davy said: 鈥淲e have seen slightly more demand from households with people being at home, but from the business side there was about 15% downturn in volumes and demand. That has come back a bit now but is probably about 15% lower.
鈥淚n April and May some customers in the leisure industry were not operating. But we have seen demand coming back.鈥
And the share offer to customers is now under way, with Ms Davy explaining: 鈥淲e are not issuing new shares, we will be buying them on the market. I鈥檓 really excited about it.鈥
And that could spell a new era for the company. Pennon already has about 20,000 shareholders, funds and investors, and now wants any of its one million customers to join their ranks.
鈥淚f we get more than 20,000 it doubles our register,鈥 Ms Davy said. 鈥淐ustomers would be more connected with us. And, alongside the share scheme, we will have quarterly meetings where the public can ask questions of the management team.鈥
She added: 鈥淲e have been accruing a pot of 拢20million and talked to customers about how they wanted to receive that. Some said a rebate, but a number of customers said they would quite like the offer of shares in the company.
鈥淪o we looked at that a bit more and 77% of customers we asked who said they would like the option of shares, did not have any shares already.
鈥淎 lot of customers did not know how to go about it, so we thought we鈥檇 put in place this scheme to allow customers to have share ownership and make it as easy as possible for them to take up that option.鈥
And the offer could be repeated with Ms Davy saying: 鈥淔or the next five years we will run the scheme again, it will be a continuing scheme, when we do well we will add to the pot going forward.鈥
