| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re::Re:Low Water Pressure | |
| Posted by: | Raymond Havelock | |
| Date/Time: | 14/07/13 10:12:00 |
| If these industries, were so lame as they seemed to be during state ownership, then not one investment corporation would touch them with a bargepole. But quite the opposite, they queue up and to to lengths to acquire shares. Clearly and still to this day, state run organisations are badly run and poorly managed. Too many cushy numbers still exist. I am constantly amazed when I hear friends who work in the public sector complaining about how hard they have to work at times. But they still get their lunch hour, tea breaks and fixed days off. and never work more than a 40 hour week. They still get overtime for a minute worked over 37 hours. Mind you, I think that's the way it should be for everyone else too but it isn't. But the problem with our UK utilities and core services being privatised is that very few have improved noticeably and for the better. Like most businesses, all that seems to happen is asset stripping and selling off to developers. The day to day operations of Thames Water are expensive and with less facilities and infrastucture reserves (which they had 100 year planned for post war) have been sold off. When this company has finally been milked dry, it will not be of any interest to a corporate owner and shareholders. The only way left is to make it a profit machine and that means just one option. Very high prices in a monopoly, which they know they will always have. Which is what makes it still attractive. All the assets disguarded could have raised a huge amount for renewing the infra structure, it does but a very small proportion. The bulk of profit goes to the share holders and investors who get a return that's way higher than it ought to be for a utility. Worst of all, this all goes out of the UK and the tax on the dividends does not come back to the UK treasury. Utilities, water, electricity Gas, and some other energy resources should be state controlled but more like the German system where a business can move and adapt and use it's own generated profits to reinvest if necessary. Only a mass boycott of Water Rate payments would dent TW and others to hurt them enough to force change. Knock 50p off their share price and they will soon be making changes. |