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Tunbridge Wells community group calls for South East Water CEO's dismissal
(Sharecast News) - A community group in Tunbridge Wells has called for the "immediate" dismissal of South East Water's chief executive following weeks of supply outages that have left tens of thousands of customers without water, according to Sky News. Sky reported that Dry Wells Action - formed by local residents and businesses - has written to company chairman Chris Train seeking clarity on South East Water's financial position, infrastructure investment and what it described as a failure to engage with stakeholders during what it called the biggest crisis in the firm's history.
The letter highlights growing public frustration after months of disruption, which has resulted in cancelled medical appointments, school closures and significant financial losses for local businesses.
"You have comprehensively lost the trust of Tunbridge Wells customers," the letter said. "Only by providing us with answers and by sacking your CEO can you even begin to restore public confidence."
Dry Wells Action criticised what it said was a lack of meaningful communication from the company, noting that South East Water would not attend a Borough Council committee meeting scheduled for Monday evening, further eroding public trust.
"Over the last 10 financial years, the board of SEW has voted to pay £249m in dividends to your shareholders, whilst the profitability of the company has collapsed and your debt has risen from £943m to £1.33bn," the letter said.
"Is your company still solvent or should it go into administration to reduce its debt? With the scale of your interest costs, how do you believe you are able to generate sufficient profit to invest in improving the supply to our town without substantial further increases in customer bills?"
Dry Wells Action demanded answers to its questions regarding the firm's financial resilience within five working days, including how it intends to repay a £120m revolving credit facility by June.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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