Sunday press review
Thames Water + Twitter + Tesco + pension funds + much more...
Hello everyone and welcome to Off to Lunch’s Sunday press review. I hope you are enjoying your weekend. A big hello and welcome to Off to Lunch’s new subscribers this week. In the Sunday press review I look at the business news that is interesting and likely to be followed in the days ahead…
1. Thames Water features prominently in the Sunday papers, unsurprisingly. The Sunday Times reports that Ofwat, the water industry regulator, has told Thames Water’s shareholders that they need to put more money into the business and that £3 billion is what could be required. The paper also has a big feature on the background to the problems facing Thames Water. Sir Ian Byatt, a former boss of Ofwat, is quoted as saying that Thames Water should be broken up into two companies - one focused on London and one based in Oxfordshire. “They’re too big for their boots and too big for efficiency,” he says. The news story is the splash of the business section but is not online. You can read the feature here. Jeremy Warner writes in The Sunday Telegraph that Thames Water is symptomatic of wider problems in the UK - an over-reliance on debt and financial engineering. More investment is needed from pension funds, he writes. You can read that column here. Alex Brummer writes in The Mail on Sunday that “Vampire Kangaroo” Macquarie, the former owner of Thames Water, should never have been allowed to buy the company. Piece here. The Mail also reports that half of the water industry’s £65 billion debt is linked to inflation and will result in higher interest payments. Story here. Lastly, The Observer splashes the whole paper on a story that most of England’s water companies employ executives who used to work for Ofwat. Story here
2. All of the Sunday papers also report on the latest controversy around Twitter. Elon Musk has announced that Twitter is limiting how many posts you can read each day. BBC story here
3. Tesco is to hire Gerry Murphy as its new chairman to replace former CBI president John Allan, who stepped down following allegations of inappropriate behaviour, which he denies. Murphy is the chairman of Burberry and food group Tate & Lyle. However, he will stand down as Tate & Lyle chairman on September 1 and join Tesco on the same day. This story was first reported by Sky News on Saturday and is followed up by all the Sunday papers. You can find the original story here