has to provide drinking and waste water and it does not have any competitors, but as you say, it has amassed debts of £14 billion over the years and this has to be serviced. it costs the costs are rising because of inflation. interest rates are rising. cost of servicing the debt has gone up. and also, it has to pay each year in investment, it is under fire for leaky pipes, sewage flowing into rivers, not meeting its performance targets, and of course hefty fines in the process. it needs to raise new money. it has already had half £1 billion from shareholders and it needs to raise in the region of another billion and it has a debt repayment coming up in the next year. it has to try and persuade its shareholders that this turnaround plan under the new ceo, sarah bentley, who left rather abruptly yesterday, that the plan is working, and for them to stump up and i think what has brought this story to the fourie is news that the government is looking at options. contingency p
let s start with the trade war between the world s we start with the questions being asked over the future of thames water. it is saddled with over £14 billion worth of debt. it could be taken into government ownership. that is one option being considered right now. that comes after the company boss sarah bentley resigned over concerns over sewage dumping. what could happen next? let s talk to emma simpson, whojoins us from the newsroom. how have we ended up in this situation, that this company, the biggest supplier to the uk, could be taken into government hands. , ., , uk, could be taken into government hands. , . , . ., , ., ., , hands. yes, thames water is a really im ortant hands. yes, thames water is a really important piece hands. yes, thames water is a really important piece of hands. yes, thames water is a really important piece of critical important piece of critical infrastructure in the uk. it has 15 million customers and on one level, it is a pretty simple business.