6 June 2007
As United Utilities prepare to announce their yearly profits, the Consumer Council for Water North West (CCWater North West) has urged the supplier to reward its loyal customers with a better service and cheaper rates.
Expected to announce profits of 750 million, United Utilities' coffers are not the only things to have swelled in the last year, with the number of complaints made by consumers also rising by 16%.
Andrea Cook, Chair of CCWater North West, said that if shareholders were seeing the benefits of the increased profits, derived in part from the above inflation prices of the water services provided by United Utilities, the customers should also be rewarded.
"We need to see a better balance between shareholder and customer interests, and additional customer benefits over and above regulatory outputs," insisted Ms Cook.
She went on to praise the utility company for improving water quality and working to address the complaints it had received, but stressed that the increases to consumers' water bills were too great.
"Consumers face a wide range of financial pressures and rightly question why their water and sewerage bills have increased so much," Ms Cook concluded.
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