ABSTRACT

The post-privatization experience of the British utilities companieshas in the main been a fraught affair. The initial period of relative calm supported by booming share prices and near-monopoly conditions was soon followed by a series of high-profile problems. These ranged from an exploding number of people unable to pay their rising bills being disconnected from basic water and energy services, through to accusations of ‘fat cat’ pay for directors who had often acquired their position through easy routes from long-term civil service to boardroom supremacy. It is perhaps not surprising that these utilities have been some of the early adopters of environmental and then also social programmes, and associated stakeholder dialogue and reporting. United Utilities, which is responsible for the provision of water and electricity supplies throughout the North-west of England, produced its first social report in 1999. Not surprisingly it highlighted its philanthropic activities. However, in line with the times, it embraced the view that social responsibility is critically about the ‘business basics’.4 For example, the company reported that water disconnections had fallen from a high of about 2000 per annum in 1992/1993 to a low of less than 100 in 1998/1999; that water leakage had fallen by 45 per cent since 1992/1993; and that all of their systems were Y2K compliant by the end of 1998.5 So far so good.