Northumbrian Water Group

Hartlepool Water Company
Newcastle & Gateshead Water Company
Sunderland & South Shields Water Company

In 1988, the Newcastle & Gateshead and Sunderland & South Shields companies were acquired in two separate operations by Lyonnaise des Eaux et de l'Eclairage (Lyonnaise), a company listed on the Paris Bourse, for £39.1m and £35.9m respectively. In 1992, the Newcastle company was merged into the Sunderland company, which was renamed North East Water (NEW). In 1988, Lyonnaise acquired two further SWCs, Essex Water Company and Suffolk Water Company (formerly East Anglian Water Company) and, in 1994, merged them to form Essex & Suffolk Water. Under the Water Act 1989, as part of the UK Government's privatisation programme for the water industry, NWA's operations were transferred to a holding company, Northumbrian Water Group (NWG); the water and sewerage activities were vested in a subsidiary company, Northumbrian Water Limited (NWL), while three much smaller subsidiaries were set up to handle other activities, such as solid and liquid waste treatment and environmental consultancy. In November 1989, NWG was privatised, along with the other regional water companies established under the 1989 Act. In 1995, Lyonnaise acquired NWG at a cost of £823m. The following year, it merged NEW into NWL—which thus became responsible for all water supply in the region, except for the Hartlepool area—and in 2000 it merged Essex & Suffolk Water into NWL. In May 2003 Suez, who had acquired Lyonnaise by merger in 1997, sold 75% of NWG to a consortium of private investors, and the company was listed on the London Stock Exchange in September 2003. In 2011 it was acquired by Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings.

Northumbrian Water Limited (NWL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Northumbrian Water Group Limited (NWGL). NWGL has two other direct subsidiaries, NWG Commercial Solutions Limited, which acts as a holding company for other non regulated trading companies, and NWG Business Limited, which carries out non household retail activities in England and in Scotland and to which NWL’s non household customer base transferred at the opening of the market in April 2017 (except for customers who pre registered to switch retailer upon the market opening). This chart shows the structure of the Northumbrian Water group (the Group) up to its ultimate parent, CK Hutchison Holdings Limited, a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The chart shows the principal intermediate holding companies, which are wholly owned unless otherwise shown.

NWL is by far the largest of NWG's subsidiaries. In 2010 it accounted for £657.8m out of the Group's total revenue of £704.7m (93%), and for £268.9m out of total operating profit of £275.8m (97%), and employed 2,930 of the Group's 3,105 employees (94%). She previously held senior positions in the rail industry and was appointed an OBE in the 2010 New Year honours list, for services to the rail industry.