Community Action Group Demands CEO’s Sacking

A community action group in Tunbridge Wells is calling for the immediate sacking of South East Water’s chief executive after weeks of outages left tens of thousands of customers without water. The group, Dry Wells Action, has written a letter to Chris Train, demanding answers about the company’s solvency, its infrastructure spending, and its refusal to engage with stakeholders during the biggest crisis in its history.

Lack of Trust

The letter states that the CEO, David Hinton, has "completely lost the trust of Tunbridge Wells customers" and that only by providing answers and firing the CEO can the company begin to restore public trust. The group criticizes Mr. Train for the lack of meaningful communication during the crisis, saying that his refusal to attend a public meeting and his failure to provide answers to the council demonstrate an "appalling lack of accountability" from the company.

Financial Mismanagement

The group accuses Mr. Hinton and Mr. Train of "showing up" and causing an unprecedented deterioration in the company’s solvency, resulting in shareholders having to raise £200m of new equity last year to reduce borrowing. Over the last ten financial years, the company’s board has voted to pay £249m in dividends to shareholders, while the company’s profitability has collapsed and its debt has increased from £943m to £1.33bn. The group describes this as a "sad story of financial mismanagement, poor leadership, and inadequate investment in infrastructure".

Demands for Answers

The group is demanding answers to questions about the company’s financial resilience, including how it plans to repay a £120m revolving credit facility by June while maintaining the confidence of its lenders. They also ask if the company is still solvent and how it will generate sufficient profit to invest in improving services without significantly increasing customer bills. The group accuses the company of poor communication with customers, which has occurred primarily through short text messages with false promises, inaccurate information, and no means of engagement.

Call for Compensation Review

The group is also calling for a review of the amount of compensation to be paid to companies affected by the outages, saying the proposed amounts are inadequate. The letter has been copied to other stakeholders, including government ministers, Ofwat, and NatWest Group, whose pension fund is a 25% shareholder in South East Water. South East Water has been contacted for comment.