Thames Water will have incurred almost £2bn in financing costs and advisory fees over the 18 months to the end of September, raising concerns about the burden of keeping the UK’s largest water supplier in private hands. The utility will have incurred £1.6bn in gross financing costs between April 2025 and the end of this month, alongside £235mn in exceptional expenses including advisory, legal and professional fees in the year to the end of March, with a further £100mn projected for the following six months.

Thames is effectively controlled by creditors including US hedge fund Elliott Management and private capital group Silver Point, after previous owners walked away in 2024 declaring it “uninvestable.” Ministers must decide whether to allow an expensive private restructuring or place the utility into a Special Administration Regime. Thames’s creditors, operating as London & Valley Water Consortium, are working on a revised proposal for regulator Ofwat and have indicated they may offer an additional £2bn bridging loan to prevent collapse if the deal is delayed.