Meeting the expectations of our customers is key, but we need to ensure we do this in a way that is both effective and efficient.
This can include achieving best value from our contractors and suppliers, developing the skills of our own people, thinking more innovatively about the challenges we face, and making sure we are prepared for future change.
Our people are our most important asset in delivering value to our customers, but the UK is facing significant changes in workforce demographics and skills demand, which will place many challenges upon us in the future.
We have developed and launched a People Strategy continue to evolve this in response to business needs and the challenges we have yet to face.
In the future, we will position Thames Water as an employer of choice, continuing to modernise our reward and recognition mechanisms, and accelerate employee engagement. We will also ensure we have robust recruitment processes, and support apprenticeships and graduate training schemes, as well as developing specialist technical and leadership skills.
We will also need to develop fresh approaches to new challenges by focusing on innovative thinking.
Wherever possible, for example, we will work with our suppliers to encourage technological development, and will use the expertise and skills of our own Research and Development teams.
We have already developed sophisticated leak detection technology, are in the process of researching new water recycling techniques and wastewater treatment processes, and are trialling 'smart' water meters.
We must also be aware that, while competition in the water sector is at present limited to comparisons between companies, it could become more far-reaching within the next 25 years.
With this in mind, we will continue to competitively tender services where these are not part of our core skills and there is a commercial rationale, and will actively participate in the development of retail competition.
In the longer term, we will seek to establish the costs and benefits of developing an infrastructure to facilitate inter-regional transfers.
The challenges to deliver efficiently are mot just internal. The size and nature of our business means we need to source goods and services from a wide variety of routes, and our supply chain can play an important role in delivering value for our customers.
We intend to actively influence supply markets to identify suppliers that can demonstrate the expertise and commitment to deliver continuous improvement in cost, innovation, quality and service.
We will also seek to provide continuity of work, particularly across our construction programme, to enable a more stable demand on resource levels and realise further efficiency benefits for customers.
