Thames Water chief to step down with immediate effect

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Thames Water said chief executive Sarah Bentley was stepping down with immediate effect from the UK’s largest water company.

Bentley, who joined Thames Water from rival Severn Trent in 2020, will be replaced on an interim basis by finance chief Alastair Cochran and strategy director Cathryn Ross.

Thames Water, which supplies about a quarter of the population in England and Wales, said Bentley would help support the transition to a new chief executive, without explaining her abrupt exit.

Bentley said in December that rising costs were making it harder to improve the performance of the company, whose owners include the BT pension fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and the China Investment Corporation.

“I want to thank Sarah for everything she has done since joining the company in 2020, building a first-class executive team and leading the first phase of the turnaround of the company,” said Ian Marchant, Thames Water’s chair.