Express & Star

Star comment: If big businesses can't provide a good service, action must be taken

Big business has had a problematic relationship with the general public in recent times. From fuel companies that profiteer at the pumps, to energy companies that fail to pass on savings in a timely manner, from rail companies that provide ineffective services, to supermarkets that punish supplies and cash in during a cost of living crisis.

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Up Sewage Creek campaigners unhappy about sewage being discharged into the River Severn

There have been a number of PR disasters, while the public has become at times disenfranchised as it’s seen large businesses make windfall sums.

While the oil and energy companies are arguably the worst offenders, the nation’s water companies push them close. They have been immersed in the unsavouriest of scandals this year as they have used our clean rivers and seas to dump sewage. Failing to invest in appropriate infrastructure while providing shareholders with huge sums, they’ve taken businesses that had no debts and racked up huge borrowings, which require substantial interest repayments.

The nation frequently wonders why a nation surrounded by oceans and that has an abundance of rain all too often finds itself with hosepipe bans.