In the first post of this series, I described my personal struggle with United Utilities (UU) and the damage, distress, and disruption I’ve suffered. But my story is just one piece of a much bigger puzzle. To really understand why the water industry operates the way it does — and why customers like me are left feeling powerless — we need to ask: Who actually owns our water companies?
The Myth of Local Ownership
Most people assume that their water company is a regional, UK-based business serving the community it operates in. The truth is very different. Many of our water companies are owned by complex webs of investors, including foreign governments, pension funds, and global infrastructure firms.
A Few Examples
- Thames Water: Britain’s largest water supplier is owned by Kemble Water Holdings, whose investors include the China Investment Corporation (a state-owned sovereign wealth fund), the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) in Canada, and the UK’s Universities Superannuation Scheme.
- Yorkshire Water: Owned by Kelda Holdings, which is backed by investors including Singapore’s GIC sovereign wealth fund and Hong Kong–based funds.
- Anglian Water: Controlled by Osprey Acquisitions, a consortium including Canadian pension funds (CPP Investments), Australian fund IFM Investors, and Middle Eastern sovereign investors.
- Southern Water: Majority-owned by Macquarie, an Australian infrastructure giant known for extracting high dividends from UK utilities in the past.
- United Utilities and Severn Trent: These are listed on the London Stock Exchange, with major shareholders including BlackRock, Lazard Asset Management, and other large institutional investors.
Sovereign Wealth Funds and Overseas Control
The presence of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) is particularly striking. These are state-owned funds — essentially the savings pots of foreign governments — investing in UK water because it is a stable, guaranteed monopoly with predictable returns. In other words, when I pay my water bill to United Utilities, part of that money could end up in the pension pot of a Canadian city worker or in China’s state investment portfolio.
There’s nothing inherently illegal about this — but is it ethical for overseas governments and funds to profit from an essential UK utility, while customers face leaks, sewage overflows, and rising bills?
The Scale of Profits Flowing Out
- In 2022, UK water companies paid out £1.8 billion in dividends to their owners.
- Since privatisation in 1989, the total paid out to shareholders is estimated at £57–£78 billion.
- Sovereign wealth funds and overseas investors typically hold 10–33% stakes in the big companies, meaning they pocket £180 million to £600 million every year from UK water bills.
This is money that could otherwise be reinvested into fixing our pipes, reducing leaks, or upgrading sewage treatment. Instead, it flows abroad.
Why This Matters
Water is not like broadband or supermarkets — it’s an essential monopoly service. You can’t switch provider. You can’t shop around. When service fails, as it did for me, you’re trapped. That’s why it feels especially unjust that profits are siphoned off to foreign investors while customers are left footing the bill for failures.
A Different Model?
Not every part of the UK follows this model. Welsh Water (Dŵr Cymru) is a non-profit company owned by Glas Cymru. With no shareholders, it reinvests all surplus into infrastructure and customer benefit. Every year, that’s about £200 million going back into the system rather than into dividends. If Wales can do it, why not England?
Where This Is Leading
In the next post, I’ll look at the big question: If water were renationalised, how much money could we actually save and reinvest every year? Spoiler: it’s in the billions, and it could transform the state of our rivers, reduce leaks, and lower bills.
💧 Takeaway: The truth is simple but shocking — much of our water system is owned by overseas investors and sovereign wealth funds. Every year, hundreds of millions of pounds flow out of the UK, while customers like me face service failures and rising costs. If we want a fairer, more resilient water system, we need to ask whether profit extraction by foreign governments has any place in such an essential service.