Reputational Water Damage
KENT BARKER considers what Southern Water can do to improve its image – and its services – in 2026.
2025 was a pretty bad year for Southern Water and its corporate reputation. But probably not its worst. That might have been 2019 when regulator Ofwat proposed a fine of £126 million for failures to operate wastewater treatment works properly and for deliberately misreporting its performance. Or perhaps 2021 when the company was fined £90m for discharging billions of litres of raw sewage into the sea – offenses! the judge said had been committed deliberately by Southern Water’s directors.
But for the people of Hastings, last year was hardly a good one as far as the company was concerned. It was capped by by the ‘catastrophic’ bio-bead beach pollution in November and the loss of water supplies at Christmas which, it was reported, would affect thousands of homes.
The fact that, ultimately, only 45 people notified the company about reduced water pressure or an ‘intermittent supply’ will have come as cold comfort to all those many hundreds of others fearful they’d have no water to boil the sprouts, let alone wash the dishes or flush the loo on Christmas Day.
Part of the reason why Southern Water is so despised and derided locally is that it appears to be utterly unaccountable. Just before Christmas, Hastings MP Helena Dollimore posted an excoriating letter she had written to the company’s chief executive Lawrence Gosden saying she was ‘shocked’ to discover that Southern Water was not co-operating with the Environment Agency’s investigation into the release of millions of plastic beads from the Eastbourne wastewater treatment works. Responding to questions or attending interviews when summoned, she warned, was not optional.
But Southern just can’t help giving the impression of refusing to play by anyone else’s rules. Take Gosden’s remuneration package for instance. The company’s annual report suggested that in 2025 he was awarded an incentive bonus of more than half a million pounds. And this despite bonuses being banned under the new powers given to the regulator Ofwat through the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025.
As HIP reported in July, ‘Southern Water was banned from paying bonuses to senior staff, but CEO Lawrence Gosden’s ‘fixed’ pay package of £687,000 is reported to have been supplemented by a ‘long term incentive plan’ adding a further £691,000 to his total remuneration.’ A move criticised once again by the town’s MP: “There is no justification for Southern Water hiking up their CEO’s pay cheque after the Labour Government banned his bonus. He has repeatedly failed his customers and left the company in a mess. This is a slap in the face to my constituents who have had to suffer the consequences of flooding, water outages, and sewage being pumped into our sea and into our homes.”
Water off a duck’s back.
And it’s not as if, financially, Southern Water has performed particularly well. It bills 4.7 million people across the south and south-east of England for water supply and sewage services, but over its lifetime has amassed nearly £9 billion of debt – making it one of the most heavily indebted water firms in the UK, beaten only by Thames Water. And it has watched its credit rating downgraded over worries that it may break the conditions of its lending agreements.
But not to worry. According to one report, the very people to whom it owes the money – likely including your own personal pension fund – have agreed to write down a sizeable chunk of debt. So you are effectively giving the company around £450 million while regulator Ofwat has approved an eye-watering hike in your water bill of 47%.
The company says this is for essential upgrades, including new water sources, supply network reinforcement, and protecting coastal areas. Some, though, might wonder if a good proportion won’t end up simply servicing the crippling debt. Others will see it as a clear case of a company that neither the city nor the government can allow to fail.
So if you were a crisis management consultant what would you advise Southern Water to do in 2026 to enhance its reputation? Obviously tell Mr Gosden and his fellow directors to return their bonuses. Possibly by personally handing out used tenners to their customers in the town centre? A hair-shirt dress code would be optional. Afterwards perhaps they could pop down to Camber with a bucket and spade and help clear the remaining bio-beads polluting the beach. A mandatory dip in the sea to demonstrate it wasn’t full of sewage could follow, before zipping up to the Darwell reservoir. There they could roll up their trousers and help dig the trench for the new pipe that will replace the one that’s now burst at least twice causing misery for the people of Hastings.
Or alternatively they could all resign and let the government re-nationalise the whole industry. Without compensation. Now that would be good PR.
We hope you have enjoyed reading this article. The future of our volunteer led, non-profit publication would be far more secure with the aid of a small donation. You can also support local journalism by becoming a friend of HIP. It only takes a minute and we would be very grateful.
Leave a Reply