The merger of South East Water and Mid Kent Water looks set to take place later this month, subject to final regulatory clearance. The merger of the two water companies will create the second-largest water supply company in England and Wales.
The company will be called South East Water and will supply, on average, 565 million litres of water every day to 2.1 million customers across Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Berkshire and Surrey. South East Water has also confirmed that, from April 2008, it will be re-locating its head office from Church Road in Haywards Heath, to Snodland in Kent. However, a satellite office will be maintained at Church Road to provide an office base for those key staff with specialist skills.
A new, centralised customer service centre housing more than 150 staff is proposed at the head office in Snodland, to provide a one-stop- shop to all customer queries., The new customer service centre will create additional jobs in the organisation, and offer a number of opportunities for existing staff within both companies as well as local job seekers. South East Water is also proposing to enlarge its state-of-the-art testing laboratory at Frimley Green, Surrey, as part of its ongoing drive to not only maintain but further improve drinking water quality.
The merger allows the company to optimise key functions in the business, with resulting benefits for customers. This includes delivering the one-off £4 million price cut to customer bills in 2008/09, as agreed with the Competition Commission which approved the merger earlier this year; and providing a further £3.1 million merger efficiency savings each year in the next funding period, which runs from 2010 – 2015.
During planning for the merger, the company has carried out extensive consultation with the combined workforce of some 660 staff. This includes consulting on redundancy terms for up to 132 staff whose roles are duplicated and who are unable to either relocate or travel to Snodland. No redundancies will be made before 31 March 2008.
Paul Butler, Managing Director of South East Water, said: “I strongly believe the creation of an enlarged South East Water will enable us to deliver a cost effective, enhanced customer service.
“Furthermore, with the issue of water resources increasingly critical to supporting growth in this region, we will become a leading voice in the future of drinking water supply in the South East to help deliver a more sustainable and efficient water supply for the region.
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