Pennon Group - South West Water Key Relationships

REGULATORS AND OTHERS

Relationships with regulators, Government and its agencies, customer representative organisations and its customers are central to South West Water’s operations. The company maintains a continuing dialogue with Ofwat, the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate. It contributes to national policy on developing issues through its membership of Water UK, the industry trade body.

The company works with the Consumer Council for Water to ensure that customers’ issues and concerns are addressed and a full understanding of the company’s activities is maintained.

PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLIERS

water trainee South West Water’s procurement strategy is focussed on partnering and strategic alliances with 60 key suppliers who account for the large majority of expenditure. Regular meetings are held to manage performance, encourage sustainable business activity and to identify and deliver continuous improvement opportunities for reducing costs further whilst improving performance and service levels.

The company has successfully completed a programme of tendering strategic contracts in preparation for the K5 period and has established a new ‘H₅O’ Delivery Alliance structure for delivery of its 2010-15 capital programme. This will enable the company to work closely with suppliers, particularly small and medium-sized businesses across the South West, ensuring value for money for customers and supporting the regional economy.

No supplier (revenue) accounts for more than 5% of revenue and South West Water sources all its purchases from competitive markets. South West Water’s electricity supplies have been secured to 2014 through recently negotiated fixed price contracts.

CUSTOMERS

South West Water has consulted with customers about its priorities for 2010-2015 and this feedback has been central to the development of customer service improvement plans to deliver its Pure Water, Pure Service and Pure Environment strategy.

Providing help and support to customers in need is at the heart of the company’s Pure Service strategy and accordingly the company remains an industry leader in the provision of priority services to vulnerable customers. In 2009/10 the company helped thousands of such customers with reading their meters or by providing extra help in an emergency.

'WaterCare', the company’s industry-leading programme to support customers who have difficulty in paying their bills, completed a third successful year. Since the start of the programme over 7,000 customers have been helped with benefit entitlement checks, tariff advice and water-saving measures.

The WaterCare programme has been commended by the Government.

Customers are kept informed about our services through ‘WaterLevel’ (our company newspaper), leaflets, the media and our website southwestwater.co.uk Consultation with customers and stakeholders has an influence on the improvements made to our literature and website as we seek to provide information of interest in increasingly accessible ways.

The company meets regularly with the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater), which champions the interests of water customers. It consults with CCWater and other stakeholders such as pensioners’ forums and Citizens Advice, prior to introducing major changes or initiatives.

COMMUNITY, CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY AND SPONSORSHIP

Bird Box South West Water concentrates its sponsorship on community projects and organisations within its service area which are linked to water, benefit the environment or promote youth participation.

Highlights in 2009/10 included the staging of a series of environmental walks with Cornwall Wildlife Trust around the coastline to mark the completion of a pipe replacement scheme at Looe and sponsoring the 'Nipper' youth championships of the Surf Life Saving Association of Great Britain at Falmouth.

Other supported events ranged from the TRAIL environmental art sculpture festival on the South West Coast Path between Dawlish and Shaldon and the opening of Pynes water treatment works, Brokenbury waste water treatment works and Mary Tavy hydro power station for guided public tours during the national Heritage Open Days.

For the third year the company also co-sponsored South West Tourism’s annual awards and funded the sustainable tourism prize. This demonstrates how its 'Clean Sweep' project has helped underpin the renaissance of tourism, the region’s number one industry.

Wateraid Calendar The company is proud to support the water industry charity, WaterAid, through sponsorship and many other fundraising activities such as the publication of a calendar featuring water-themed photographs taken by Group employees.

South West Water achieved a ‘Green Apple’ award for transforming a disused sludge lagoon into a pond for wildlife with a number of other habitat improvements around its water treatment works site at Tottiford, near Bovey Tracey. This project was shortlisted as a finalist in the Community Campaign of the Year category of the Water Industry Achievement Awards. This recognises the way South West Water engaged with adults with learning difficulties for the supply of bat, bird and dormouse boxes now fitted across the site.

EMPLOYEES

South West Water’s people strategy continues to focus on recruiting and developing individuals who can support the delivery of the company’s ‘Pure’ vision, enabling the provision of a high quality service to customers and the achievement of operational efficiencies.

Technical and managerial skills training have underpinned the company’s Puros project. A range of other learning programmes to support the development of customer facing and operational skills continue to form a fundamental part of our strategy.

Employee involvement and participation in all aspects of business and organisational change is encouraged and supported through the company’s Staff Council and craft and industrial consultative forums.