What It Does: United Utilities is involved in the supply and provision of billions of litres of drinking water and recycled wastewater to the residents in North West England.
Mission: United Utilities' mission statement is to provide excellent water and more for the North Western part of England.
Size and Presence: United Utilities has more than 5,000 employees across 166 locations in the UK.
Best Known For: United Utilities is the largest water company in the entire UK, and it provides a great quantity of water to about 7 million residents in the UK. The utility company also has an electricity distribution subsidiary. This company owns 166 water reservoirs in the UK, and some of them are outside the North West.
The Good Bits: The salary is competitive according to industry standards. United Utilities has a great welfare program which its employees benefit from. The work-life balance is excellent. The working environment is nice and conducive.
The Not-Good-Bits: N/A.
The history of this utility company goes back to 1989 with the privatisation of the North West Water Authority, which was tasked with the responsibility of providing water to the North Western region of England. After privatisation, the company was renamed the North West Water Group plc. Six years later, this company purchased NORWEB Plc, the electricity supplier and distributor of North West England. In 1996, the company was then renamed United Utilities Plc. Two years later, the firm was listed on the New York Stock Exchange but was delisted in 2007. In 2000, the North West and NORWEB branding, which was still associated with United Utilities, was phased out, a process which was finalised in 2001.
In late 2007, United Utilities sold off its electricity distribution operations to North West Electricity Networks Limited. However, United Utilities still ran and maintained operations on behalf of North West Electricity till 2010. That was when the electricity company purchased the operations and maintenance assets from United Utilities. In 2016, United Utilities received a huge loan of £500 million from the European Investment Bank. The loan had a tenure of 18 years, and it was to support investments in the North West. As of today, United Utilities has virtually 600 wastewater treatment works.
UU is a great family of diverse professionals who are united by specific core values and a common vision. The company has a conducive and pleasant working atmosphere that makes the workflow smooth and highly exciting. The employees are cordial with each other and willing to take freshers and graduates under their wings and show them the ropes. UU also has a very inclusive environment. The company was ranked as the 7th most inclusive employer in 2020, which shows how open and accommodating it is of different ethnicities, sexual identities, genders, religions, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The company’s dress code is formal clothing.
UU is a company that offers brilliant career prospects for fresh graduates and interns. Its internship opportunity, for instance, gives participants a chance to learn about the company's operations. Interns get to network with prospective mentors and other interns and gain valuable industry insights during the course of the program. UU’s graduate programme provides world-class training for its new graduates coupled with a deep understanding of how the company operates. The program nurtures inexperienced freshers into future industry leaders. UU also offers apprenticeship programmes for school leavers who want to work and earn a salary while completing their schooling to earn the relevant qualifications.
United Utilities pays its freshers an average annual salary of £30,000.
UU is actively working towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions into the environment.
There’s no widely published controversy.