The Latest Breaking News from Thames Water

Ailing water company hopes higher bills can save it, but that depends on Ofwat agreeing its salvage plans are workable

Letters: Wendy Bradley suggests a grand water downing ceremony presided over by the king for Thames Water and others. Plus a letter from Pete Lavender

It failed to make some interest payments when they were due

In his bestselling book Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell repeatedly referenced the '10,000-Hour Rule', based on research by Swedish psychologist Anders Ericsson. Despite its subsequent controversy, the rule's premise is in someways fairly pedestrian: achieving greatness in any skill requires time and effort.

ING, AIB and two Chinese state-owned banks expected to agree extension on £190m loan

Early last year, regulator Ofwat at last woke up to the exploitation of the complex financial structures around our water companies. Holding companies had been allowed to borrow against water firms’ assets to increase dividends to shareholders.

It is a rudimentary lesson of statistics that correlation does not necessarily equal causation. Otherwise, Thames Water customers might reasonably conclude that the higher their bills rise, the more sewage the company pumps into London’s rivers.

Thames Water customers will see a huge rise in bills this week despite sewage being pumped into London rivers for more than 9,773 hours in 2023

Exclusive: public anger over river pollution affecting employee safety, union survey suggests