Thames Water, the UK’s largest water and wastewater services provider, has announced the establishment of the FA2050 Technical Partner Framework to support its groundbreaking Strategic Resource Options (SRO) programme. This framework, with a contract value of £300 million and a term of up to eight years, marks a significant milestone
Thames Water has extended Barhale’s AMP7 framework appointment by five years to the conclusion of AMP8 in March 2030. The AMP8 (2025-2030) programme will see Thames Water continue to invest in its water and wastewater network which serves 15 million people across London and the Thames Valley. The water company
In one of the first key Thames Water AMP7 announcements, Barhale has been awarded a four-year, £22M programme of inspections and works on the Thames Water Ring Main (TWRM) and Raw Water tunnels. Under the Thames Water Tunnels and Aqueducts Programme, the civil and infrastructure specialist will carry out monitoring
In a surprising move, Thames Water has revealed that will leave the commercial property utilities market when tendering begins, transferring all of its current business clients to former rival, Castle Water. Thames Water stands as the UK’s largest water and wastewater services provider, supplying around 2,600 million litres of tap
It has been reported that Stuart Siddall, the present Chief Financial Officer for Thames Water, is set to retire at the close of the year. This will see Stuart Siddall working with the soon to be announced new Chief Executive in the build up to the end of the year
Great success has been highlighted for Thames Water, with the organisation’s retail division successfully increasing the size of its Scottish customer base by greater than 100% over the previous year. The present number of sites, sitting at 1,300 in total, serves to foreshadow the organisations ambition to improve its presence
Thames Water, the UK’s largest water and wastewater services provider, has announced the establishment of the FA2050 Technical Partner Framework to support its groundbreaking Strategic Resource Options (SRO) programme. This framework, with a contract value of £300 million and a term of up to eight years, marks a significant milestone in Thames Water’s commitment to ensuring sustainable water resource management for the future. The SRO programme, essential for addressing the evolving needs of the community and the environment, is guided by a gated process prescribed by the Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID), ensuring rigorous adherence to quality standards and regulatory requirements throughout the development cycle. The Arup Binnies joint venture (JV), along with two other suppliers, is poised to lead on three pivotal SRO programmes: These projects are characterised by a significantly greater scale and complexity than works within typical water utility capital delivery programmes. The new framework encompasses a comprehensive array of services across dozens of disciplines, including engineering, environment, planning, land, engagement, project management and consultation analysis. Binnies UK Managing Director, Scott Aitken commented “The Arup Binnies joint venture is delighted to support Thames Water’s ambitious goals through the Strategic Resource Options. Our team offers a strategic, comprehensive and adaptive approach tailored to deliver large infrastructure schemes that leave a lasting legacy for future generations to benefit from. With our consortium’s wealth of experience in engineering, environmental stewardship and strategic planning, we are uniquely positioned to realise Thames Water’s ambitions for securing and enhancing water resources in the south east and London region. We are dedicated to fostering positive change and creating a resilient future for the communities served by Thames Water.”Arup incoming Chair, UK, India, Middle East and Africa Region, Paula Walsh remarked “Arup is proud to be a global leader on water solutions, with significant experience in the UK delivering work for Thames Tideway Tunnel, the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales among many others. We are honoured to be invited to collaboratively support Thames Water’s ambition for more sustainable water solutions. The complexity and challenges of these projects is significant, but with our diverse experience we look forward to developing nature-led sustainable designs for these major new pieces of infrastructure. We have all seen first-hand how the climate emergency is causing water shortages in the UK. We are proud and ready to act to bring more secure, sustainable and resilient solutions that leave a legacy for future generations. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Thames Water has extended Barhale’s AMP7 framework appointment by five years to the conclusion of AMP8 in March 2030. The AMP8 (2025-2030) programme will see Thames Water continue to invest in its water and wastewater network which serves 15 million people across London and the Thames Valley. The water company is spending £2.3bn on infrastructure improvements through the current AMP7 period (2020-2025). Civil engineering and infrastructure specialist Barhale will continue to operate under FA1488 covering Lot 1, the Non-Infrastructure framework, and Lot 2, the Infrastructure framework. Lot 1 focuses on capital maintenance and enhancement across many of Thames Water’s own operational sites, and Lot 2 includes new installations and capital maintenance of existing key assets. Lots 1 and 2 will be the principal delivery route for the AMP8 capital programme. Thames Water has also confirmed the extension of Barhale’s appointment to FA1495 – Lot 5 of the AMP7 framework – covering the delivery of the water and wastewater AMP7 infrastructure programme across North London. Activities will include the new installation and replacement of existing trunk and rising mains; pressure management; the inspection of aqueducts, bridges and tunnels; the rehabilitation of sewers, pumping station refurbishment and gravity solutions to maintain asset health and accommodate growth. The programme will also continue work on SUDs and pipeline-related emergency works. Shane Gorman, Barhale’s Water Director – Southern Region, believes the extension reflects the strong positive relationship between the two businesses and Barhale’s deep understanding and experience of some of Thames Water’s most important assets. “We are very proud of the work we continue to carry out for Thames Water,” he said. “Water infrastructure across London and the South East presents some unique challenges – not least responding to the huge demand from the country’s most dense poplulation. “At Barhale, we have fully embraced Thames Water’s collaborative approach which has yielded some impressive benefits under AMP7 already including greater agility in the way we have been able to deploy our teams to react to changing conditions, better utilised and shorter planned outages and swifter programme delivery. “We look forward to continuing to work closely with Thames Water through the AMP8 period.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
In one of the first key Thames Water AMP7 announcements, Barhale has been awarded a four-year, £22M programme of inspections and works on the Thames Water Ring Main (TWRM) and Raw Water tunnels. Under the Thames Water Tunnels and Aqueducts Programme, the civil and infrastructure specialist will carry out monitoring and maintenance on a total of 35km of ring main tunnels and a further 9km of raw water tunnels. Associated works include the refurbishment of four HIVs (High Integrity Valves) and relining a 1.8km length of the 2.5m inlet and outlet tunnels for the QEII Reservoir at Walton-on-Thames. The TWRM is an 80km long, 2.5m diameter tunnel built between 1988 and 1994 to take water from five treatment works and transfer flows via pumping stations housed in shafts along the route. It is a major part of London’s water supply infrastructure and carries an average daily flow of 0.3 x109 gigalitres – a little under one-sixth of the capital’s daily demand. Phil Cull, Barhale’s Southern Region Director believes that the business has benefitted from its unrivalled experience of working on the Ring Main over many years. “Under AMP6 we worked closely with the Thames Water team to refurbish 19 of the 22 shafts,” he said. “It’s meant that we have gained insights and knowledge of working across the Ring Main that is second-to-none. We are very pleased that experience has been recognised by Thames Water and to be given the go-ahead on this important programme of works. “The TWRM and the raw water tunnels are absolutely critical pieces of infrastructure for London and the scale of the task cannot be underestimated. To put it in perspective, one element of the programme of works will be the replacement of all of the grout hole caps along 27km of tunnel – a total of 217,000 at around 8 per metre.” Mark Grimshaw, Water Production Manager for Thames Water, said: “Providing a reliable and safe supply of water to our customers is a top priority for us so it’s vital we have the right people working with us to look after the infrastructure that makes it possible. We’re glad to once again have Barhale on board to maintain and improve such key pieces of our London network.”
In a surprising move, Thames Water has revealed that will leave the commercial property utilities market when tendering begins, transferring all of its current business clients to former rival, Castle Water. Thames Water stands as the UK’s largest water and wastewater services provider, supplying around 2,600 million litres of tap water to some 9 million customers across London and the Thames Valley every day. The organisation also removes and treats more than 4 billion litres of sewage for 15 million customers, and operates and maintains some 102 water treatment works, 30 raw water reservoirs, 288 pumping stations and 235 clean water service reservoirs. Castle Water, a Scottish water supplier, will begin to take on Thames Water’s responsibilities to business customers in autumn this year as the role Thames Water’s is eventually fazed out in stages. By April 2017, Castle Water is expected to have acquired the business retail operation as well as Thames Water’s current Scottish client base – just in time for the opening of the competitive market. Thames Chief Executive, Martin Baggs, remained positive about the organisation’s process of consolidation, insisting that the dissolution of its business arm would enable the company to focus more fully on its regional household business which he described as Thames Water’s “core” operation. He added that it would open up the national retail market, inspiring greater competition and, in turn, delivering better value for customers – something that aligns with the values and ambitions of the new government. The organisation will continues to provide retail services to household customers. And, as Martin Baggs alludes, the household market is Thames Water’s biggest, making up more than 95% of its total client base. With renewed emphasis on that market, Thames Water intends to invest heavily in the creation a new customer relationship and billing system to improve levels of customer service and customer satisfaction. Existing business clients with Thames Water need not fear, however. Baggs stressed that Castle Water works by the same tokens as Thames Water and will continue to meet the needs of customers in the same attentive and high quality manners that clients to which clients have grown accustomed. John Reynolds, Chief Executive of Castle Water confirmed the news and expressed his excitement for the opportunity, adding that the provision of water for Thames Water’s business clients is another step toward becoming the UK’s fastest growing water suppliers.
It has been reported that Stuart Siddall, the present Chief Financial Officer for Thames Water, is set to retire at the close of the year. This will see Stuart Siddall working with the soon to be announced new Chief Executive in the build up to the end of the year before moving on. Highlighting Stuart Stuart Siddall as “strong and effective”, Peter Mason, Thames Water’s Chairman commented on his key role in increasing those resources supporting the front line services existing for the benefit of the customer. Stuart Siddall has also been praised as a “strong lead” in improvements made to transparency, making great ground in better displaying company finance. “Stuart has always made it clear that he would want to stand down from full-time roles about now and we wish him well in his retirement,” explained Peter Mason, and with Stuart Siddall having a long running history of supporting Thames Water, it is sure that he will be missed, and the company’s efforts to source a replacement will commence upon the finalisation of the appointment of the company’s new Chief Executive. Most specifically, Stuart Siddall has worked in a number of core roles dating back to 2011, including that of his most current role of Chief Financial Officer, as well as in being on the board as an Executive Director and also a member of the executive team. This forms only a small portion, however, of his extensive 40 year career in the arena of corporate finance, having held five successive appointments in the role of Chief Financial Officer going back to 1990. Also announced has been the addition of Nick Fincham, Strategy and Regulation Director, to the board in the position of executive director, recognising his successful role in the executive team and “leading the way” in the most recent regulatory price review.
Great success has been highlighted for Thames Water, with the organisation’s retail division successfully increasing the size of its Scottish customer base by greater than 100% over the previous year. The present number of sites, sitting at 1,300 in total, serves to foreshadow the organisations ambition to improve its presence in England’s non-household retail market sector. The present client network highlights an over-achievement on the company’s part, actually surpassing those targets initially set out for the company to increase its client base twofold only, up to 1,200 sites. Of course, the news is surely of a positive note for Thames Water, with the results highlighting the quality of the service on offer to the market. With 2016 predicted to be one of the best year’s for Thames Water yet, it is expected that the company will be able to continue this trend of growth over the course of the year, primarily in terms of the number of clients being handled by the organisation. Additionally, the level of service provided is also expected to be maintained across the increasing network, with Thames Water displaying a commitment to sustaining the “unparalleled service to clients” onto and into the future. Thames Water Commercial Services has also stated that it believes the success achieved in Scotland to be attributed to the increased importance being perceived in managing your water supply as has historically been seen in the gas and electricity industries – industries whereby customers are often changing provider in accordance with new pricing and external factors on a very regular basis. Having operated in the Scottish market for just under three years, the notable success of the company already in tapping into the potential of this market is noted. The English market, however, is due to open as of April 2017, with some 1.2m non-household customers based primarily, or entirely in England to then select their preferred supplier of water and wastewater services.
