northumbrian water - brilliant today

Lightweight said:
But they have still managed to pay £1.7billion in dividends from 2011 to 2019
Value for us?
Opening paragraphs of article:-
“Hong Kong's richest family extracted £130million in dividends last year from one of Britain's biggest water companies.


Details of the payments at Northumbrian Water Limited can be revealed just days before regulator Ofwat announces a crucial decision on the company's strategic plans, including dividends.

Northumbrian Water Limited has now paid out a total of £1.7billion in dividends to its owners, the Hong Kong billionaire Sir Li Ka-shing and his family, since they bought the business for £2.4billion in 2011.”
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And your point is ?
 
Millbrook said:
Wrong. Generally speaking the householder is responsible for drains and water within the boundary of their property.

I had a blocked sewer recently and cleared it myself. Problem was limescale buildup - nothing to do with the water company system.
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That’s incorrect I’m afraid. The law changed about 10 years ago and the water companies were made to adopt all shared drains, whether on public or private land. That’s the reason they sent somebody out to clear it ‘free of charge’, not out of the goodness of their heart or because they’re concerned about the public health issues.

Of course, as others have pointed out, it’s not free. We all pay for this within our water rates/meter charges.
 
Wez68 said:
People slagging off the likes of Northumbrian Water probably haven't got a clue what the scale of the operation actually is , and I would say the actual amount we all pay to them is very cheap indeed for the service we get , for clarity I do not work for NW , but the company I work for supports the 3 main utility providers in the north , and I have a very good understanding of NW
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This is a good point. There is a huge amount of work that goes on. Our water bills are justified given the infrastructure required to provide clean water and deal with wastewater.
 
Nero said:
This is a good point. There is a huge amount of work that goes on. Our water bills are justified given the infrastructure required to provide clean water and deal with wastewater.
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I had no idea of the scale of the business until I started work with my current company .
 
Lightweight said:
where in my comments did i mention that?
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You didn't directly , you stated that if they didn't pay as much out as dividends our bills should be less, Do the likes of Sky reduce your bill if they make good profits , of course they don't.
If you honestly think the £30 odd quid we pay a month is inflated then you obviously have no idea on the scale of the company infrastructure.
 
Wez68 said:
You didn't directly , you stated that if they didn't pay as much out as dividends our bills should be less, Do the likes of Sky reduce your bill if they make good profits , of course they don't.
If you honestly think the £30 odd quid we pay a month is inflated then you obviously have no idea on the scale of the company infrastructure.
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Few points
1. Sky is an optional service that can be opted to receive or not. Water is not
2. If I want to gain access to the TV broadband Etc then I can look at other providers who provide competition in the market place. I cannot do this with my water supplier making this argument .bill and void.
3. I pay significantly more than” £30 odd quid” a month. ( separate debate as am currently addressing this)
4. Your presumption that I have no idea about the infrastructure that Northumbrian water provide is incorrect.

5. I am not against dividends but the lack of investment and the amount of extra money that is to be invested over the next 10 years should partly be paid by reducing the dividend payments and not an exorbitant increase in water bills over the same time increase.
 
Wez68 said:
People slagging off the likes of Northumbrian Water probably haven't got a clue what the scale of the operation actually is , and I would say the actual amount we all pay to them is very cheap indeed for the service we get , for clarity I do not work for NW , but the company I work for supports the 3 main utility providers in the north , and I have a very good understanding of NW
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I don't think you have a very good understanding of anything if you can't see the problem we have with the water companies making billions in profits whilst not fulfilling their duties.
 
Billy Horner said:
That’s incorrect I’m afraid. The law changed about 10 years ago and the water companies were made to adopt all shared drains, whether on public or private land. That’s the reason they sent somebody out to clear it ‘free of charge’, not out of the goodness of their heart or because they’re concerned about the public health issues.

Of course, as others have pointed out, it’s not free. We all pay for this within our water rates/meter charges.
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Shared drains yes but the drain to the shared drain is the householders responsibility. I was incorrect in this case, just checked the OP and it was a shared drain.
 
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