Ofwat to appoint independent monitor to Thames Water

Ofwat said on Wednesday that it was looking to appoint a monitor to report on Thames Water’s progress in turning the business around after the water company lost two investment grade credit ratings.

Thames Water’s credit rating was downgraded by Moody’s on 24 July and by Standard & Poor’s on 31 July.

The regulator said the independent monitor will report back to Ofwat "frequently" and be entitled to access to company information.

Other measures include developing and delivering a suitable operational business plan to achieve the turnaround, taking the steps required to deliver an equity raise and new non-executive director board appointments.

Ofwat chief executive David Black said: "We are clear that Thames Water needs to remedy its licence breach, turnaround its operational performance and secure backing from investors to restore its loss of investment grade credit rating.

"These enforceable commitments will include our putting an independent monitor into the business, to report back to us on what is happening to drive meaningful change in performance, and to ensure appropriate expertise is added to their board.

"We will continue to monitor progress very closely and will not hesitate to take any further action if necessary."