Restaurant owner angry at increased water bills

A small business owner has said she is angry about "footing the bill" for mismanaged water firms.

Suzy Sales, who runs a restaurant in Newbury, reacted to Ofwat's announcement that water bills are set to rise by an average of 36% over the next five years.

She said: "It's really going to affect us quite a lot."

Thames Water, whose customers will see their average annual bills rise from £436 to £588 by 2030, refused to provide a comment on the changes.

The water firm, which has 16 million customers, will now be allowed to put up bills by 35%.

Mrs Sales told BBC Radio Berkshire: "For a small business our margins are quite small anyway."

She said it had a double impact on small businesses like hers, as they had to pay more for their bills and their customers, who are also paying more for water, have less money to spend in the restaurant.

"There is a little bit of anger I think about the fact that it comes down to the consumer, be that a business, be that a private family to foot the bill of what has been many, many years of mismanagement," she said.

Mrs Sales said her own bills at home had doubled and she did not feel like she was getting value for money, as she was worried about having an "out of date water and sewage system".

She started the restaurant, called Pizza on the Square, alongside her husband Antonio eight months ago and described it as a "leap of faith" for her family.

Mrs Sales said it had been well received, but there had been a mixture of highs, lows and "incredibly hard work".

She said the increasing bills could put-off other people from pursuing new businesses.

"It makes it difficult to make these decisions and take these risks and do something new and exciting," she said.

David Black, the CEO of Ofwat, which has approved these changes, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that it "carefully scrutinised the plans".

He said: "We've backed a £104bn investment plan that will deliver a significant reduction in sewage spills, further reductions in leakage and drive up service for customers."

He called it a "game changing level of investment".

"It's a fourfold increase in investment for a bill increase of around £31 per year, every year over the next five years," Mr Black said.

You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.