# Severn Trent Plc creation of a 15,000 strong online consumer panel

- Link: https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/severn-trent-plc-creation-of-a-15000-strong-online-consumer-panel/412757615
- Published: 2018-09-03T07:53:54+01:00
- Author: Charlotte Edwards

**[Severn Trent Plc](https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/ftse-company/severn-trent/svt.l)**(
LON:SVT) submitted Final Business Plans to Ofwat for its subsidiaries Severn Trent
Water and Hafren Dyfrdwy Cyfyngedig for the regulatory period 2020-2025.

This marks a milestone in a process that has involved our broadest, most diverse
and most detailed customer research undertaken to date, including the creation of
a 15,000 strong online consumer panel, directly engaging with almost 32,000 customers
and analysing 1.9 million customer interactions.

As a result, we have been able to submit plans that truly reflect what customers
have told us they want. For Severn Trent Water Customers this includes a real bill
reduction of 5%1 — the largest in two decades, and a commitment to triple the number
of customers we help through our social tariff schemes. To support this bill reduction,
we will use our innovation and commercial pipelines to deliver a 13% efficiency 
in spending, with total expenditure of £6.6 billion over the 5 years.

Our plan shows our continuing ambition to improve the service we provide our customers,
with stretching performance commitments and a RORE range for ODIs of -3.0% to +2.6%.
We will invest in our assets to protect water supplies for generations to come, 
contributing to double-digit growth2 in our RCV over the 5-year period, financing
the business responsibly with average gearing of 63.6%.

Additionally, we are proposing for a new community dividend of 1% of profits3 each
year, to support communities in the Severn Trent region.

Hafren Dyfrdwy customers can expect average combined bills to continue to be the
lowest in Wales, whilst we target our most ambitious improvements in the areas customers
have told us matter most, helping twice as many people who struggle with their bills
in the process. We will invest in our critical infrastructure and undertake our 
largest programme of environmental investment in 20 years, for the benefit of our
Welsh communities and the environment for generations to come.

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