Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, headquarted in Nelson, contributes more than a £1 billion a year to the Welsh economy according to a new economic impact assessment from Cardiff Business School.
The report, published last week alongside the company’s preliminary annual results, shows that for every ten jobs created by Welsh Water, a further fifteen are created in the supply chain, supporting more than 6,000 jobs across Wales.
The not-for-profit company’s financial results show that in the past 12 months £338 million was invested in capital projects and essential infrastructure across Wales, Hereford and Deeside.
Dŵr Cymru has confirmed that a further £650 million will be invested over the next two years supporting over 1,000 jobs in the construction industry in Dŵr Cymru’s region.
The company also announced that finance director Chris Jones will succeed Nigel Annett as chief executive on September 1 this year.
Mr Annett will remain with the company until the end of March next year. The two men are the founder directors of Glas Cymru, the not-for-profit company limited by guarantee which bought Welsh Water in 2001.
Mr Annett said: “There have been calls for water companies to share gains with customers. In Wales – and in those parts of England served by D?r Cymru – the water industry is owned and managed on behalf of the three million people who rely on D?r Cymru for what is an essential public service. Because of this unique ownership structure all the gains from efficiencies and improving performance are retained for the benefit of our customers. And these gains are significant.
“Average household bills are now lower in real terms than they were in the year before Dŵr Cymru became not-for-profit in 2001. We also help around 52,000 of our less well-off household customers with their water bills through a range of social tariffs. That’s more than any other water company.
“We rank with the best performers on the measures that matter for our customers – drinking water quality, protecting our rivers and coastal waters from pollution, reliability of service – and customer satisfaction is consistently over 90%. Last year we got more thank-you letters and emails from our customers than complaints.
“We are now preparing our plans for the future ahead of next year’s regulatory review and our aim is to continue to maintain and improve service levels while keeping customer bills affordable, demonstrating that our ownership structure and purpose really does deliver the very best outcomes for customers – both today’s customers and future generations.”
In the twelve years since Glas Cymru took over the ownership of Dŵr Cymru, “Customer Equity” (that is, regulatory capital value less total net debt) has risen ten-fold to stand at £1.6 billion as of March 31 this year.
Commenting on taking over as chief executive, Chris Jones said: “I am honoured to be taking over from Nigel and to lead this fantastic company at an important time for the water industry in Wales.
“There are many challenges ahead but we have a great team in Dŵr Cymru who are committed to doing our very best for the three million people who rely on us every day. We have made great progress since Glas Cymru secured the ownership of Dŵr Cymru back in 2001 and I am confident that we can continue that success in the years ahead.”
Commenting on the economic impact assessment, Professor Max Munday, Director at Cardiff Business School’s Welsh Economy Research Unit, added: “Dŵr Cymru’s spending has a substantial impact in Wales, and this impact is spread across a number of different sectors of the economy. As important is the security of this spending programme which is particularly valuable in these difficult and uncertain times.”