CORPORATE PURPOSE
ANGLIAN WATER ASPIRES TO A GREATER GOOD
CORPORATE PURPOSE IS NOW ENSHRINED INTO ANGLIAN WATER’S ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION AND ITS BUSINESS MODEL, FINDS HELEN DUNNE
HOW does a monopoly provider of an essential service prove that it has set the proverbial bar high in terms of how it serves its customers, the communities in which it operates and the environment? The answer for Anglian Water, which supplies water
and recycling water services to more than six million customers stretching from Hartlepool to Lowestoft, was to embed public interest into its Articles of Association. The move – which took place last July, with the
backing of the consortium of international investment funds that own the utility – enshrines public interest objectives into Anglian Water’s constitution, and means that its board must now take account of the wider impact of the company’s actions, as well as delivering a fair return for shareholders. But it has also set Anglian Water on a
Public
expectations of business are changing
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collision course with Ofwat, which the water company has referred to the Competition & Markets Authority, claiming that the industry regulator’s revisions to its five-year plan is not in the best long-term interest of its customers. Ciaran Nelson, Anglian Water’s director
of brand and communications, explains that the public interest initiative is simply
‘putting a stamp’ on the way that the utility operates ‘all day and every day’. He adds: ‘This gives our customers, society and stakeholders the confidence that we are true to our word. It is not just lip gloss. This is a substantial move. We have gone deep into the architecture of our business.’ Anglian Water’s board essentially asked themselves
what needed to be changed today to ensure that the ethos and values of the business would remain in perpetuity. Changing the articles of association obligates any new shareholder or owner to act in the same way. ‘It is a technical thing, but it matters,’ he explains. ‘There is a big debate about who owns big business, including public services. This change means that, regardless of who owns Anglian Water, they are obligated to consider the customers and communities in which we serve.’ Chief executive Peter Simpson describes it as a ‘cast iron commitment to the wellbeing of communities in the East of England, going far beyond the provision of clean drinking water and effective treatment of used water’. Nelson adds: ‘We have a framework to make
difficult decisions.’ But it is also the latest step in a journey that two
years ago saw Anglian Water liquidate its Cayman Islands (and UK tax domiciled) resident subsidiary and
CorpComms | February/March 2020
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