Severn Trent Water Ltd has awarded a contract for the provision of regulatory and technical assurance services for itself and sister company Hafren Dyfrdwy Cyfyngedig worth an estimated £2,625,000.

The utilities were looking to engage an expert in the provision of services used by large, highly regulated businesses with significant operational undertakings such as the water sector.

Severn Trent specified in the original tender document that the appointed supplier must have access to an array of specialist expertise beyond the standard financial and business management disciplines. This included support for non-financial ESG reporting requirements such as Taskforce on Climate-related Disclosures and Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures.

Both companies have obligations to prepare, submit and publish a wide range of information required by their stakeholders including Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales.

The supplier of assurance service forms a core part of the utilities' assurance process, providing independent challenge and regulatory, technical insight on approaches and processes.

The initial contract term is 39 months with further possible extension options of up to a maximum of 24 months.

Jacobs UK has been awarded the contract, one of four companies who bid for the work.