THAMES Water has thanked the people of Swindon for helping to shape the company’s five-year business plan.

The company has spoken to around one million customers, including those in Swindon, to help develop its latest business plan, which will be unveiled next week.

Feedback from customers was gathered at events and venues, including the superhero themed charity run in Swindon last May.

Steve Robertson, CEO of Thames Water, said: “We’d like to thank the record-breaking number of people from Swindon who have helped us shape our five-year plan.

“Our proposals are a true reflection of what our customers have told us they want to see and we appreciate all the time they’ve taken to give us their opinions and advice.”

The company asked for feedback using a diverse and mixed range of techniques to gather an accurate picture of its customers.

It ran surveys, text messages, did online and face-to-face engagement with customers, including high usage and small businesses, developers, customers in vulnerable circumstances, different age groups, low income and those from various faith groups.

Among the priorities identified by customers was delivering a proactive customer service which treated people on an individual basis, to be a safe and dependable water service, and customers wanting the utility to be resilient to the future, ensuring enough clean water can be supplied and waste water systems can cope with demand.

Water companies, as private utilities, are required to submit business plans to the regulator Ofwat every five years and the company started to engage its customers nearly three years ago, on topics that included customer service, leaks, wastewater and bills.

The private utility company supplies water to more than 2.6 billion litres of drinking water per day to 15 million people across the UK.