The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has published The 2010 R & D Scoreboard – the top 1000 UK and 1000 Global Companies by R & D Investment.
Companies drawn from the water companies within the industry sector of gas, water and multiutilities were Kelda, Kemble Water, Northumbrian Water, Severn Trent, United Utilities and Veolia Environnement France.
On the face of it the figures do not make for encouraging reading or suggest that the water companies are investing in R and D in order to drive the innovation process which is generally acknowledged to be necessary in the industry. Northumbrian Water's spend has remained unchanged for the last five years, while United Utilities has halved its spend this year. Severn Trent is the exception - the company's spend of £22M in 2009 represents a five-fold increase since 2006/07.
In terms of ranking within the top 1000 UK companies, Severn Trent were in the top 20% with 145th place, while United Utilities were in the lowest 5% at 984.
|
Company Name |
2009 R&D spend £M |
Operating Profit £M |
Sales £M |
2008/09 R&D spend £M |
2007/08 R&D spend £M |
2006/07 R&D spend £M |
2005/06 R&D spend £M |
|
Kelda Eurobond Uk |
3 |
246 |
704 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
Kemble Water UK |
4 |
648 |
1660 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
|
Northumbrian Water UK |
2 |
272 |
705 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
Severn Trent UK |
22 |
505 |
1704 |
19 |
16 |
4 |
4 |
|
United Utilities UK |
1 |
805 |
2439 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
Veolia Environnement France |
130 |
1575 |
31062 |
90 |
81 |
67 |
56 |
To read the full report and access the complete rankings list visit:
http://innovation.gov.uk/rd_scoreboard/downloads/2010_RD_Scoreboard_data.pdf