PA Consulting Group has worked with many UK water and wastewater companies to develop and implement strategic solutions in the following areas:
- Shareholder value
- E-Business and business-to-business
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Information technology (IT)
- Metering.
PA works with companies to help them identify current problems and form strategies to overcome them. Ultimately, we are dedicated to delivering solutions for our clients to grow their business and increase shareholder value.
Track record
Retail strategy development for a UK water company
PA's client was a wholly owned subsidiary of a major multi-utility in the UK. Over the last few years the client, like most other UK utilities, had been suffering significant shareholder value losses as tougher regulation had taken its toll. In addition, the cross-product cost savings, expected to accrue when the water company acquired its energy assets, did not fully materialize.
In order to develop a more effective strategy, the client asked PA to support the strategy development process by modeling the shareholder value of customer segments, and analyzing the impact of various competition scenarios on the worth of the client. We also helped create a discussion framework to progress the strategy debate.
PA provided commentary on the pressing issues regarding the two strategic themes that emerged. The first looked at expansion of the existing business both in terms of product scope as well as geography; the second looked at an e-business opportunity in the domestic utility supply arena. This commentary drew on a number of expert PA practitioners drawn from a number of practices. PA's study showed how £50 - £100 million of value to the enterprise could be added by changing different processes.
Redirection of acquisition strategy for a UK water company
As a result of a series of reactive acquisitions and investments, the directors of a major UK utility constructed a development strategy to expand their company into the instrumentation business sector. They wanted a study to evaluate and support the implementation of that strategy, and to evaluate a number of targets they had already lined up. On completion of the study, PA found serious business flaws in their strategy. As a result, PA halted negotiations, refocused the growth objective and identified a new target list of acquisition candidates that could add real value. The utility acquired its leading target 18 months later.
