ALEX BRUMMER: Sir Adrian Montague must step up at Thames Water

This weekend all eyes will be on the Thames. Britain’s biggest free sporting event takes place down the road from where I live, in Mortlake, when crews from Oxford and Cambridge perform a historic ritual. Of all the battles between two of Britain’s leading research universities, the boat race, which draws large, rowdy crowds, still has national allure.

Unfortunately, today, eyes will be as much on the water as on the brawny crews.

Following E.coli warnings and details of Thames Water’s wastewater discharges, staying away from the backwash will be a priority as the parade of boats goes by.

There are also larger political issues at stake. Decades of mismanagement, weak enforcement by regulator Ofwat and benign neglect by the government and Whitehall mean the largest of the country’s privatized water suppliers faces an existential threat. The country is burdened by a debt burden of £18.3 billion and a repayment of £190 million due in April. An ugly impasse ensues, with shareholders refusing to provide more capital without the promise of a 40 percent price increase from consumers.

When CEO Sarah Bentley resigned in July over concerns about Thames Water’s ability to continue operating without a bailout, serial corporate fixer Sir Adrian Montague was dropped into the chairman’s chair. It is the general manager’s job to keep the taps running, the rivers clean and the waste taken care of. The chairman and the senior non-executive take care of the shareholders and are expected to deal with crises.

Montague has impeccable credentials. When the British Energy nuclear power plant went bankrupt in a similar tragedy in 2002, he led the reorganization. He paved the way for its sale to France’s EDF for £12.9 billion in 2012.

His presence at Thames Water was intended to ease financial tensions and allow CEO Chris Weston to deal with the complex operational details, including price caps and investment requirements imposed by Ofwat.

But as the current crisis has unfolded, Montague has found itself in the shadows until now.

His absence may not be entirely coincidental. In March, Montague stepped down as chairman of Kemble Water, Thames’ parent company, due to the payment of a £37.6m dividend in October 2023. The transaction is under investigation by Ofwat. Montague’s resignation from Kemble and a number of subsidiaries should technically give him enough independence to solve Thames’ problems.

Ideally, debt restructuring could be achieved. This would provide Thames with the space to make the necessary investments to keep London and the Thames Valley supplied with reliable water.

Sir Adrian should step up to the plate.

Sporty life

Since the Chicago Black Sox scandal of 1919, there has been great distrust of sports betting in the US. In the week that British Flutter, owner of Paddy Power and Betfair, announced that it will seek permission to move its share price from London to New York, a modern-day gambling scandal broke out.

Baseball’s highest-paid star, Shohei Ohtani, who has a $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, told a news conference that his interpreter stole money from his bank account to pay an illegal bookmaker. Ohtani denied ever betting on sports. Or as the crowd shouted back, “Say it ain’t so, Shohei.”