History
In 1974, the Northumbrian Water Authority (NWA), one of ten public sector regional water authorities created under the Water Act 1973, was formed and became responsible for sewerage and some water supply functions that had previously been split among over 80 local authorities and water undertakings. Water supply to more than half the region was left in the hands of three existing statutory water companies (SWC):
- 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.
Read more about this topic: Northumbrian Water Group
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Three million of such stones would be needed before the work was done. Three million stones of an average weight of 5,000 pounds, every stone cut precisely to fit into its destined place in the great pyramid. From the quarries they pulled the stones across the desert to the banks of the Nile. Never in the history of the world had so great a task been performed. Their faith gave them strength, and their joy gave them song.”
—William Faulkner (1897–1962)
“History is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s damn is the history we make today.”
—Henry Ford (1863–1947)
“A country grows in history not only because of the heroism of its troops on the field of battle, it grows also when it turns to justice and to right for the conservation of its interests.”
—Aristide Briand (1862–1932)