Debt-Ridden Thames Water Dumps Solar Firm; But Don't Worry, Its Executives Will Get Lots Of Severance Pay!
A solar energy project developer linked to Thames Water is to be liquidated and its staff made redundant as the crisis engulfing the debt-laden water supplier puts strain on its complex corporate structure. Trinzic Operations Ltd, which is ultimately owned by Thames’s parent company Kemble Water Holdings, is to be voluntarily shut down, the Guardian can reveal.
Sources said Trinzic, which is based in London, is subject to a members’ voluntary liquidation – when a solvent company is shut down – and Kemble is attempting to recoup more than £25m from the business. A filing with the Insolvency Service shows that 37 employees will be made redundant at the company, which was set up to develop floating solar projects on Thames sites to boost the company’s renewable energy generation. The job losses start at the end of the month. Some employees may be given roles at Thames.
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A source close to Thames said that Kemble was “urgently” attempting to recover funds from Trinzic, as consultants at Alvarez & Marsal work with Kemble to assess its options. It is unclear whether, after the cash needed for restructuring is spent, any funds recovered from Trinzic will be distributed to external shareholders. Senior executives at Trinzic are understood to be in line for large payouts – in excess of 12 months’ salary. The majority of staff are expected to leave with redundancy payments worth at least three months’ pay.
Thames Water is laden with £15.2bn of debt and said last week that it only has sufficient funding to run its operations until June next year. If it collapses, it is expected to be temporarily nationalised. Regulator Ofwat has put Thames into a form of special measures. The Guardian revealed in April that a development company that sells off land no longer needed by Thames, Kennet Properties, paid out a £14.5m dividend in the year to 31 March 2023 despite the difficulties faced by the wider group.
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https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jul/14/thames-water-owner-to-liquidate-solar-energy-subsidiary-amid-debt-crisis