The very mention of Thames Water – as Britain battles through summer drought, and seaside resorts and wild swimming sites are infested with E. coli – provokes an apoplectic reaction. It has been in the emergency ward since 2023 when then-chief executive Sarah Bentley abruptly stepped down as the nation’s biggest water supplier struggled against a rising tide of debt and faeces. A consortium of creditors, known as London & Valley Water, proposes to write off £9.6billion of the £20billion debt pile. In exchange they want the Government to desist from regulatory action over sewage discharges and investment delays. Revolut, which has a UK licence, plans to make Paris its ‘Western European HQ’.