The new boss of South East Water has admitted the company has “failed” and has promised the firm will do better next summer.
South East Water (SEW) CEO John Halsall, said he understood customers’ frustrations and pledged to show residents “clear improvements and better service”.
Appointed following the resignations of the company’s former Chairman and previous Chief Executive, Mr Halsall is setting out three pledges for customers on what he wants to achieve in the first nine months. He is asking them to judge progress on:
- Fixing day to day performance
- Driving operational excellence
- Ensuring transparent and authentic engagement with customers, stakeholders and regulators.
Those resignations had followed a torrid time for the beleaguered water company. Fined £30million by Ofwat for various water outages, including those that affected Crowborough, SEW was then heavily criticised by angry MPs.
It has also admitted losing 100million litres of water a day through leaks, and imposed a hosepipe ban on the area in the summer.
Mr Halsall said: “South East Water has a clear task: to deliver a safe, reliable water supply to its customers.
“We know we have not done that well enough. Our customers, communities and stakeholders rightly expect better, and we need to show them that things are changing.
“Since being announced as CEO-Designate, I have spent time listening to colleagues and key stakeholders, understanding the operational challenges facing South East Water and assessing where the business needs to change. That period has reinforced the scale of the challenge, and the need for a reset in how the company delivers for customers.
“My immediate priority is to respond to customers’ concerns about their water service and deliver the short-term improvements we can make now, while strengthening resilience for the future.
“This transformation will not be easy, and people will rightly judge us by our actions, not our words. We need to show customers clear improvements and better service.”