Liv-ing in Denial? The Two Faces Of Severn Trent Water (& Ofwat?) 😠
Corporate Spin vs Local Reality: What Liv Garfield’s Secret Email Tells Us
4 May 2025:
Found a couple of interesting & insightful articles about Severn Trent Water by the Evening Standard: 👀
These articles provide valuable insight into the political and financial pressures currently facing the water industry — particularly Severn Trent Water— and show how senior figures are scrambling to protect their interests.
📰 Article 1: “Labour threat to water firms triggers war of words”
📌 Key points:
The Labour Party's suggestion of re-nationalising water companies has unnerved investors.
Severn Trent’s CEO Liv Garfield, alongside other industry figures, is pushing back to preserve the private model.
Mounting concerns over pollution, debt, and crumbling infrastructure are fuelling public mistrust.
🔎 Why this matters in Crowle, N Lincs:
These national tensions are playing out locally. What we’re witnessing —
Displacement of local wildlife, including deer.
(click on the link for photographic evidence)
— is a direct consequence of this broken model.
When even investors are spooked, it’s clear the system isn’t working. 🤔
📨 Article 2: “Severn Trent chief’s defiant email to water bosses over water nationalisation”
📌 Key points:
In a confidential email revealed by the Evening Standard, Severn Trent CEO Liv Garfield urged utility bosses to unite against potential nationalisation by a future Labour government.
She claimed that doing so would “destroy investment confidence.”
Garfield proposed a new corporate rebrand: “social purpose companies” — to maintain private ownership while projecting a public-serving image.
“There is a growing belief that the private utility model can and should be a force for good... We should respond as a group to the shadow front bench with one voice... rather than simply defend the past, we should propose a new model — one of ‘social purpose companies’, that are regulated, private companies with long-term patient capital and public benefit at their core.”
🚩 But that corporate messaging clashes sharply with the reality here in Crowle!
While Severn Trent promotes a narrative of responsibility and public service, residents in Crowle experience:
SOCOTEC reports are being withheld from affected residents.
Displacement of local wildlife, including deer.
(click on the link for photographic evidence)
Local deer returning to the adjacent field proves they were driven out.*
Poor soil conditions were overlooked or dismissed, despite independent assessments.
🚨 And now there’s even more cause for concern. 😨
🔄 The Revolving Door Between Severn Trent and Its Regulator
In July 2023, The Guardian (link) reported that two-thirds of England’s largest water companies employ key executives who previously worked at Ofwat, the regulator tasked with overseeing them! 👀
Notably, Severn Trent has hired several former Ofwat directors.
These include:
Shane Anderson, now Director of Strategy and Regulation at Severn Trent.
Jonathan Ashley, now Head of Economic Regulation.
— Both formerly held influential positions at Ofwat.
🚩 This raises concerns about regulatory capture and
potential conflicts of interest!
This 'revolving door' between regulator and industry seriously undermines public trust. When councillors suggest directing complaints to Ofwat, one must question the regulator's independence.
*Local deer returning to the adjacent field (observed by a Crowle resident on the evening of 2 May 2025) suggests they were displaced by the construction activity. It’s the first confirmed sighting since Severn Trent cleared the main field in October 2023 — and even now, they can’t access it due to Heras fencing. That these animals instinctively returned to their old habitat, despite the disruption, supports the idea that the field was part of their natural range — and that they've been forcibly excluded from it.
📢 In the light of this news, we ask our readers to consider:
Contacting local representatives to demand transparency from Severn Trent
Supporting initiatives advocating for stronger regulatory oversight
Sharing personal experiences to build a collective voice
💬 Enjoyed this post? Want more on the Severn Trent saga?
If you’d like to see future updates — including more revelations, and FOI fallout — please consider:
✅ Subscribing to the blog (it's free)
✅ Leaving a comment — I read every one
✅ Sharing this post with a friend, neighbour, journalist, or (especially) Severn Trent...
Because we’re just getting started. 🕵️♂️💼
📢 We’ll keep pressing. You keep watching.
📚 Read the full archive at mickeyjoe1.substack.com
✍️ Sign & share the petition here
📽️ Video archive: https://youtube.com/@MickeyJoe-z6r
👉 If you feel strongly about the issues raised in this article, then consider sending an e-mail to Crowle Town Council (clerk@crowleandealandcouncil.org) or North Lincolnshire Council (customerservice@northlincs.gov.uk) or even Councillor Julie Reed, (Cllr.juliereed@northlincs.gov.uk), and ask them why are residents being silenced?